VISUAL ARTS REVIEW: Contemporary art at Hancock Shaker Village

Reviewed by Lesley Ann Beck

(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) An exciting array of work by forty artists comprises a new exhibition—Simple Gifts: Contemporary Artists Celebrate Hancock Shaker Village’s 50th Anniversary—on view at the living history museum through mid-October. The art, from paintings, prints, and photographs to sculpture, fiber, and ceramics, is exhibited in the former poultry house, which makes a very fine gallery. Far from the usual chicken coop, the building is a two-story brick structure overlooking the garden and the fields beyond, and the art is hung in two large white-walled rooms flooded with natural light.

 

The participating artists have, for the most part, utilized Shaker ideals and concepts, rather than iconic Shaker forms, in their interpretations. A reverence for nature, an appreciation for the spare and elegant in design, and a preference for the simple rather than the elaborate or over-embellished are evident in the exhibition.

 

Ellsworth Kelly, Jenny Holzer, and Jon Isherwood are among the nationally and internationally recognized artists whose work is included in the show. Isherwood’s travertine sculpture, Inner Sense, is textured with parallel incised ridges flowing around the bulbous, organic vessel shape, adding interest and affecting the play of light across the marble surface. Holzer’s small but mesmerizing light box with its enigmatic pattern of fleeting dots of colored illumination is a remarkably good fit in the Shaker structure; the Shakers were eager to adapt new technology and Holzer’s mastery of her medium mirrors, in its way, the excellence of Shaker craftsmanship. Kelly’s one-color lithograph of a sunflower exhibits restraint and simplicity in the grace of the lines.

The show also includes works by Michael and Maureen Banner, Michael Boroniec, Ben Butler, Gordon Chandler, Peter Dellert, Sue Flores, Gene Flores, Warner Friedman, Anthony Garner, Mike Glier, Paul Graubard, Tracy Helgeson, Lili Holzer-Glier, David Hornung, Jason Houston, Peter Hussey, Ann Jon, Ruberto Juarez, Maggie Mailer, Peter McCaffrey, Geoffrey Moss, Gary Orlinsky, Victoria Palermo, Janet Rickus, Jennifer Riley, Denyse Schmidt, Carol Stegeman, Roy Superior, Mara Superior, Jain Tarnower, Suzanne Ulrich, Nicholas Whitman, T. Kelly Wilson, La Wilson, Joyce Audy Zarins, and Michael Zelehoski.

 

A masterful still-life by Janet Rickus, Red Garnet Sweet Potato, expresses delight in the simple, the everyday. The beauty is in the deep golden reds of the root vegetable against a blue wall, activating the colors and engaging the eye.

 

A series of six black-and-white photographs by Nicholas Whitman portray the austere beauty of Hancock Shaker Village, especially in winter. His ability to capture shadows and texture brings a poignant beauty to the images.

 

Four drawings by Geoffrey Moss, A Barn of Purpose #1, #2, #3, and #4, mixed media on paper, feature a simple barn shape against an undulating horizon, rendered in Moss’s compelling style. The emphatic black marks have energy and depth, strong against the creamy background.

 

Gordon Chandler’s large (75” x 55”) “quilt” of found steel, called Green X, # 1440, is charming, visually engaging, and effective on a number of levels. The squares of metal, brightly colored, with remnants of writing or marks, are scavenged from myriad sources; this makes viewing the piece up close entertaining, in trying to identify the provenance of the individual scraps of metal. But back away a bit, and the rhythm of the colors and textures starts to involve the viewer, and moving even further back allows for a view of a well-calibrated abstract arrangement of color, one that is graphically pleasing.

 

A framed three-dimensional piece called Borrowed Light by Victoria Palermo is delightful in the luminous qualities of the color she has achieved using pigmented silicone rubber. From azure to lime to red, lemon, orange, pink, and sea blue, she takes the viewer on a light-hearted trip though the spectrum.

 

The small silver teapot crafted by master silversmiths Michael and Maureen Banner is simply gorgeous. The delicate curve of the extended handle balances the spout perfectly; and the enameled medallion brings delicate color to the piece. A line of miniscule copper rivets recalls the artistry of the Shaker oval box. It’s exquisite in its conception and realization.

 

Ceramist Mara Superior has also contributed a teapot-inspired piece, but in porcelain. Shaped like a Colonial house with two chimneys rising from the roof, each sprouting a porcelain heart, the surface is embellished with Superior’s signature blue outlines of the windows, doors, and details. A pair of swans add to the whimsy of the vessel.

 

Untitled Pig (ears and tail), a diptych by photographer Jason Houston, is utterly charming. One image is all ears and snout; the companion image is a curling tail. The piece has humor, but it also calls attention to the important issue of local agriculture and humane treatment of animals, both concerns of the Shaker community in its heyday.

 

The works in this exhibition are varied in media and in subject matter, but consistent in their excellence. Contemporary art of this fine caliber is not what a visitor to Hancock Shaker Village might expect to find, but it is a welcome innovation, indeed.

 

Simple Gifts: Contemporary Artists Celebrate Hancock Shaker Village’s 50th Anniversary, will be on view through October 15. Many of the artists will be present during the Village’s Charter Day celebration on Saturday, August 21, from 3 to 5. A live auction of the works, conducted by Courtney Booth of Sotheby’s, will take place on Saturday, October 16, at 5, with proceeds to benefit the artists and programs at the Village. Pieces may be purchased prior to the auction for the full advance sale price by contacting Suzanne Maslanka at ext. 214. To attend the auction (for which there is no admission fee) or place a bid if you’re unable to attend, contact Maribeth Cellana at ext. 115.

For more information, call or visit www.hancockshakervillage.org.