Mythology sometimes gets a bad rap, as if it were nonsense or an untruth or an affront to common sense.
But mythology is none of those things. It is a truth of sorts, something that resonates with a palpable veracity. It is a way to make sense of the world, even if only for a short time.
I invited the six artists selected to participate in the exhibition because I have been impressed by the aesthetic caliber of their work and their dedication to their respective crafts. But beyond that, I sensed a commonality. Each was trying to explain something about the universe or their place in it, consciously or not.
Adrian Tio has the most obvious tether to traditional mythology. A printmaker of Puerto Rican descent, much of his imagery is derived from the culture of the Taino, the native people of much of the Caribbean. His prints often include hummingbirds and iguanas, the avian and earthbound avatars of the spiritual and the physical.
Taylor Hickey is a printmaker, sculptor and bookmaker with heavenly inspirations and aspirations. Her work often shines, quite literally. Her fascination with the cosmos fuels her artistic sensibility and infuses any venue she displays in with a fervor for the stars.
Kim Barry is a painter of blossoming flowers, halved peppers, sensual fruits and vegetables, that most often reference the female form (and in some cases, very specific parts of that form.) When painting, she articulates a passion for life, female strength, and fecundity. She is an unapologetic art studio Demeter.
Kat Knutsen is a painter who grew up in an environment where she frequently witnessed destructive male behavior. Her current series of paintings focuses on the male form as she explores a vision of masculinity that is grounded in diplomacy, love and care. In this work, she she seeks to rewrite the old mythology for a new era,
William Kennedy, a painter who lives and works in Fall River, focuses on Black male expression. Rejecting the harmful and hurtful mythos of the Angry Black Man and other stereotypes, he seeks to alter the trajectory of the story. Having recently exhibited in London and Detroit, he vanquishes the mythology that the only way to achieve success for a young Black man is through athletics or rap.
Carl Simmons is a multimedia artist and installation artist who finds inspiration in the fact that local history is often forgotten, ignored or rejected in innate preference for folklore and mythology. It is in the contradictory conundrums and hopelessness of well-meaning preservation that he thrives. His astonishing installations are created with the detritus of local history.
Myth takers, myth makers, myth breakers.
-Don Wilkinson, Guest Curator
