One Man’s Treasure…
by Tom Wachunas
“Determining the
difference between lowbrow art and highbrow art is very often a matter of
appreciating the difference between what people want and what people need.” –
June Godwit –
Folk Art. Naïve
Art. Outsider Art. Kitsch. At its best, “The Creative Spirit” exhibit at the
Canton Museum of Art is, in all of its distinctly quirky content, highly entertaining,
serving up a spicy hot stew of delectable collectibles. At worst, it’s a gooey
gumbo of regrettable forgettables.
Specifically, the show points up the wild
range of tastes displayed in the sprawling personal collection of Mark Chepp,
an artist ( a remarkable painter reviewed here in my post dated Sept. 12, 2010)
and retired director of the Springfield Museum of Art. Beyond that, and in as
much as the show is surely a celebration of flea market/ antique emporium/ yard
sale finds, it also celebrates the uniquely, intrinsically human activity of
responding to life by making all manner of pictures and objects. More than simply
wanting to make things, we are genetically wired, indeed compelled to do so.
So here is a vast accumulation of stuff, made
by passionate artisans with varying degrees of skill, as well as less refined
hobbyists, known and unknown. Something for and from everyone, it would seem.
The show is marvelously eclectic evidence of a wanderlust for things whimsical
and primitive, simple and mystical. Speaking of mystical, most of you faithful
readers won’t be surprised to know that the pieces most resonant for me are
those that are spiritual or religious in character. There are enough of them to
warrant their own niche in one of the smaller side galleries. Along with a
strong showing of Christian iconography, there are other fascinating and
strange visions of a more totemic or ritualistic nature.
Back to the regrettable forgettables for a
moment - all those sock monkeys, bottle cap figures, goofy face jugs (to be
fair, some of those are genuinely exciting), and garish Elvis busts (making me
wonder if they’re more posthumous punishment than praise)… OK, so the operative
intent here is probably something close to “let’s just get off our high horse
for a bit and celebrate ‘low’ culture,” which makes for some innocent fun and
can even be quite enchanting as far as it goes. And where is that,
exactly? Many of these artifacts do
remind me of the chintzy shelf-stuffers I recently saw at a local Cracker
Barrel Restaurant gift shop.
Museum goers
predisposed to expect classically spectacular or conventionally elevated
aesthetics will find this exhibition decidedly raw and down to earth if not
somewhat undignified. Keep in mind that thanks to the radical shifts in 20th
century Western thinking about what constitutes a work of fine art, and who
determines such things, we’ve come to accept (for better or worse) ideologies
far less stringent and exclusive than those that ruled our minds and hearts for
so many previous centuries. Our populist democracy of ideas when it comes to
defining and embracing art has soared to new heights and sunk to ludicrous lows,
all in the name of righteous inclusivity. And it’s probably fair to say that
many of the objects here were made by folks who couldn’t care less about
intelligentsia philosophizing anyway.
So, junk or
jewels? You decide.
Photos: “The Good
Samaritan” carved, painted wood by R. Smith / “Man” welded steel by Kurt
Fisher/
“Monkey and Snakes in a Chair” painted wood and found
objects by Edd Lambdin (next to anonymous sock monkey) ON VIEW THROUGH July 22 at the Canton Museum
of Art www.cantonart.org