A Compelling Summons
By Tom Wachunas
“In wildness is the
preservation of the world.” ― Henry David Thoreau
“Until
he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself
find peace.” – Albert
Schweitzer
“…Man has been incorporated
into the menagerie. He’s been summoned to this gathering of species to answer
for some of his previous actions.” - Brian Jarvi
EXHIBIT: African
Menagerie: The Inquisition – work by Brian Jarvi / THROUGH JULY 22, at the
Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Avenue North, Canton, OH 44702 /330- 453-
7666 / Hours: Monday: Closed; Tues - Thurs: 10am - 8pm; Fri - Sat: 10am - 5pm;
Sun: 1 - 5pm
Before reading much
further, PLEASE consider taking the time to click on this link to the web site
of Minnesota-based painter Brian Jarvi to see the video and read accompanying
text on his African Menagerie: The
Inquisition. It’s an artwork of epic proportions, 17 years in the making,
consisting of seven connected oil paintings on panels – a breathtaking
panorama, 32’ wide and 14’ high:
Jarvi’s motivation
for this work began during a journey to Africa in 1989, the first of 12 such
trips. Of that first excursion, he has said, “The sights, the sounds, the
smells – it felt like landing on another planet. It was jaw dropping. You could
witness the cycle of life on a regular basis, which was intriguing to me.”
Jaw dropping
indeed. When I picked mine up from the museum floor during my first visit to
this exhibit, I felt enthralled in a way I hadn’t experienced since my boyhood.
I was maybe nine years old. I remember marveling at the astonishing artistry of
elaborate illustrations in a sumptuous Time-Life book about dinosaurs that my
parents had given me for Christmas. I also remember being somehow saddened in
knowing that those life forms, depicted with such gripping immediacy and
realism, were in fact no longer extant.
As if Jarvi’s
towering panels weren’t riveting enough, the exhibit also features more than
forty additional drawings and paintings. Some are studies (including pencil and/or charcoal),
while many others are sublimely finished oil paintings in their own right –
lavishly detailed pages, so to speak, in an ongoing saga of astute, passionate
observation rendered with wondrously masterful
technique.
One particularly
arresting quality of Jarvi’s monumental centerpiece is the sensation of immersive warmth. The African sun
made palpable. It’s as if the pigments themselves have been infused with
sunlight. Uncanny.
And what of “The
Inquisition” in the work’s title? Yes, the painting is certainly an imagined
scenario, a theatrical fantasy of sorts, and an otherwise unlikely convening of
209 species. But notice the lone, naked human figure seated at the bottom of
the panel to the right of the taller center panel. He’s a Caucasian, looking
like Leonardo da Vinci, that genius purveyor of the idealized human form. You
could think of him in this context as a symbol of Western culture itself,
arguably the strongest hand in the disruption of natural dynamics on the
so-called Dark Continent.
Something to think
about: The stability and diversity of the animal world has been progressively
and negatively impacted by the actions of one species – us. The results of our activities have grossly exceeded the kinds
of natural occurrences (predictable or not) that can affect the lives and
habitats of creatures in the wild. In relation to the survival of Africa’s
indigenous wildlife - and for that matter the survival of too many other
creatures across our planet – we are
not simply a migratory species, but a vigorously, purposely invasive one as
well.
And all those
meticulously painted animals? Are they a grand jury of abused citizens looking
to indict? Or is the naked man there to propose to them a plan for harmony and
healing?
The appeal of Brian
Jarvi’s art goes well beyond its technical, illustrative excellence. Jarvi is not just an illustrator (albeit a
truly superb one) so much as he is a highly accomplished illuminator. He presents us with urgent questions.
Are we willing to
step into the light he so elegantly sheds on our accountability in preserving
the dwindling abundance of wildlife around us? Or will the relentless march of “civilized”
humanity, all too often driven by greed, neglect, and cruelty, completely kill
our capacity – our moral obligation, really - for respect, gratitude, and
compassion?
Is it so
implausible that in the next generation, some child somewhere might encounter
these paintings merely as an academic remembrance – fossils of a kind – of the
magnificent life forms that once graced this earth?
PHOTOS in order
from top: No.1 through No. 5 – African Menagerie: The Inquisition / No. 6 – The Oracle / No.7 – Ground Hornbill Study / No.8 – Bongo Study
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