2020 Hindsight: An Old Story Still Unfolding
 |
| Pigs Drink Whiskey, by Bobby Rosenstock |
 |
| Indoctrination: The Leash of Loyalty, by Michele Waalkes |
 |
| Jones and Farmers Drink, Gossip, by Aimee Lambes |
 |
| Squealer Spins, by Shane and Kelly Roach |
 |
| Men are Pigs and Pigs are Men, by BZTAT |
 |
| Napoleon Takes Power, by Patrick Buckhor |
 |
| The Evening Speech, by Erin Mulligan |
By Tom Wachunas
EXHIBIT: ANIMAL FARM: A 75th ANNIVERSARY APPRECIATION
/ curated by Craig Joseph / On view at Stark Library, Main Branch, 715 Market
Avenue North, Canton, Ohio / on view Through Sat. Dec 5, 2020 during
regular library hours.
“It's with great
excitement that I invite you all to ANIMAL FARM: A 75th Anniversary
Appreciation… I've revived the Translations Art Gallery brand and
partnered with Stark Library to host an exhibit of 52 scenes from the book,
created by artists from Stark County, Ohio, and around the nation. These are
people whose work I treasure and admire and I'm so honored to have them all
creating and exhibiting under one roof.”
- Craig Joseph, curator
Click on this link for digital catalog of entire exhibit,
and purchase information:
http://www.animalfarm2020.com/pdf/digital_animal_farm_exhibit.pdf
Sign up here to
attend a Zoom Panel Discussion with several of the participating artists on
Thursday, Nov. 12, 7 to 8 p.m.: https://events.starklibrary.org/event/4656967
First, let me
repeat what I wrote here in my post from Oct 19. “I’m thrilled and grateful
that Craig invited me to exhibit a new work for this show. In my re-reading of
George Orwell’s classic tale about a rebellion of farm animals against their
human keepers, I was startled at how the vivid narrative seemed to literally
pop off the pages and invade my consciousness, my sense of place in time. While
Orwell’s novel was a bitterly satirical allegory of the Russian Revolution and
its tumultuous aftermath, I felt the story explode beyond the confines of its
time. An ignoble ethos of tyranny and corrupted ideals, the story still lives
today, outside the book. A then has become a now.”
The exhibit is
among the most riveting thematic group shows I’ve ever seen in Canton. With 54
works by 53 artists, it’s a megadose of remarkable creativity and an otherwise
a spectacular panoply of aesthetic styles and media.
Craig Joseph’s curatorial
prowess is in full force here, reminding me that superb curating is a
performative act in itself. He mounted the individual artworks as numbered
episodes, each with an accompanying brief synopsis, retracing the order of the
story’s events as they unfolded in the novel. So even if you’ve never read the
book, or forgotten it, you can still follow the narrative. He has also provided
a complete digital catalog of the artworks (click on the hyperlink above). For
the duration of the show, his vigilance goes further still with his very astute
comments via live Facebook posts wherein he provides a closer look at two
pieces every day (except Sundays).
https://www.facebook.com/craig.joseph.18
Much more than a
collection of storybook “illustrations” in the conventional graphics sense, the
artworks here form an altogether stunning, multi-dimensional translation of Orwell’s
novel. Maybe you could think of this gathering of artists as a singular entity
on task to not simply retell an old story, but to illuminate, enhance, and
intensify it with a new sense of immediacy – even urgency. Many of these
fervent creators have articulated uncanny parallels between Orwell’s
descriptions of sociopolitical chaos and depravity, and the distressing
conditions of our own time. A wild journey, to be sure, and one that yields
truly compelling art.
One more note: be sure to check out ANIMAL FARM: A FABLE IN
TWO ACTS, an online theatrical production by Malone University Theatre, adapted
by Nelson Bond and directed by Craig Joseph,
Fridays and Saturdays, November 13th and 14th / November
20th and 21st
No comments:
Post a Comment