Gallery aims to make visitors think
Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram
VERMILION — Inspired in part by the labyrinths of ancient mythology, Sherry Bradshaw literally puts visitors on a gradually constricting path in her new one-woman art installation “digging beneath the surface.”
“In mythology, you always had young men entering a labyrinth to kill or be killed by the Minotaur or monster,” Bradshaw said, her descriptive language meant to convey an image of America’s unclear, deepening involvement in the Iraq-Middle East conflict.
Before they enter the central labyrinth in Vermilion’s year-old Artseen Gallery, visitors are drawn to exhibits as varied as a wall-mounted display of animal bones to a cart filled with plastic, squeezable bear-shaped honey dispensers, all of which are labeled with the words “Will Work for Oil.”
Bradshaw said that it was her intent to put lots of symbolism into the exhibition to engage and trigger visitors’ imaginations.
“At one point, I told myself I was putting too much in here. I want it to be reflective,” she said.
The focal point of the display clearly remains the intriguing maze, in the middle of which stands a slightly raised table supported by heavy chains. On its white textured surface is a continuously changing series of slides that alternate between blue, sunlit skies and other nature shots to images of hooded men bound by ropes and other restraints.
They are the Iraqi inmates who were tortured and humiliated by U.S. troops — most notably at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
Bradshaw strives to elicit reactions, pro or con, with other images, including a model of a wide-eyed, black, tar-covered deer that lies beneath the table, its eyes open wide with fear. She even used black tarpaper to physically slow down people as they walk through the gallery and maze.
Opened in spring 2007, the artseen gallery is located in the town’s former Liberty movie theater. Bradshaw co-owns the gallery with Warren Steiner, and the pair spent weeks combing beaches in Huron, where they live, for hundreds of pieces of thin, thick, straight and curving driftwood. The latter forms the meandering path taken by visitors as they negotiate the labyrinth.
A printmaker and graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College, Bradshaw has exhibited art and taught art classes at Oberlin’s Firelands Association for the Visual Arts.
Despite the region’s rocky economy, the gallery is experiencing an increase in visitors.
“We’ve had a lot of boaters from Michigan, and people from the Toledo area,” Bradshaw said. “They’re willing to make the drive, even with the gas situation.”
Crediting a growing database and Web site, she’s encouraged by returning regulars but knows there are limits.
“I’m willing to experiment, but it’s not worth the electric bill” to remain open in winter months as she did last year, she said. “I’m still learning.”
Part of that education is her approach to “digging beneath the surface.”
“I don’t want to dictate people’s feelings or give‘tours. I want this to be an ongoing experience that I’m part of. Visitors should be my collaborators. They’ve already enlightened me about my own work.”
Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram July 15th, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 2% |
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