SHOWCASE – September 2014

A preview of the 2014 CMCA Biennial 

Since 1970, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) has held a juried exhibition open to artists working in all media who have strong connections to Maine. The exhibition includes only works that were created within the past two years. More than 475 artists applied for this year’s Biennial, which was juried by Jennifer Gross, chief curator of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and arts and culture writer Deborah Weisgall.

Working from slides, Gross and Weisgall combed through hundreds of works, resumes, and statements submitted by artists. “We considered questions of scale and variety, the amount of gallery space in the CMCA building, how the works would play off against each other,” explains Weisgall. “While the show is broad in its reach, we also tried to make it coherent.”

The jurors selected a mix of emerging artists and established ones, and work made with a variety of materials and techniques. This year’s exhibition includes two boats—beautiful objects that actually float with a person inside them—an enormous crocheted hammock, a small knitted garden, a wall of gesso birds (one of several works that had to do with birds), and intricate quilts. “We looked for skill, for intention, we wanted to be surprised; a couple of times we laughed out loud,” says Weisgall. The Biennial offers a snapshot of the contemporary art that is happening in Maine today, a representation of the rich range of artists who work here and have studied here and who find in this place and community space and support for imagination.

Here’s a preview of the exhibition, which opens September 27.

FEATURED ARTISTS:
Jeffery C. Becton (Deer Isle), Emily Brown (South Montville), Stephanie Cardon (Cushing), Cole Caswell (Portland), Anne-Claude Cotty (Stonington), Cynthia C. Davis (Harpswell), Scott Davis (Rockland), Susan Dewsnap (Lewiston), Leah Gauthier (Brunswick), Lauren Gillette (York), Adriane Herman (Portland), John Knight (Portland), Linda Mahoney (Waldoboro), Adam John Manley (Portland), Fred Michel (Westbrook), Munira Naqui (Falmouth), Sean Patrick O’Brien (Freeport), Jordie Oetken (Skowhegan), Jan Owen (Belfast), Dennis Pinette (Belfast), Shannon Rankin (Rangeley), Meryl H. Ruth (Cumberland), Bridget Spaeth (Brunswick), Barbara Sullivan (Solon), Daphne Taylor (Montville), Sharon Townshend (Pownal), Jennifer Wilkey (Wiscasset), Jeff Woodbury (South Portland)

CAPTIONS:

Jeffery Becton, Blue Calm, 2014, digital montage, 20” x 33”

Jeffery Becton, Soft Chine, 2014, digital montage, 20” x 30”

Emily Brown, Untitled, 2014, ink on paper, 60 ½” x 42 ½”

Stephanie Cardon, Lyre, 2013, cement, bamboo string, 11” x 36” x 15 ½”

Stephanie Cardon, TransAtlantic (sketch of work in progress), 2014, mohair and wool yarn, ceiling hooks, 10’ x 20’ x 32”

Anne-Claude Cotty, Flowers Open Endlessly Into, 2013, artist book: brass, copper, wire, plexiglass, photograms toned with mordancage, coptic binding, text from Rilke’s Duino Elegies, 5 ½” x 3” x 1 1/3”

Cynthia Davis, Book, Page, 2014, ink on paper, 6 ½” x 4 ¼”

Cynthia Davis, Coast to Coast, 2013, acrylic and paper, 34” x 53”

Susan Dewsnap, Inset Lid Jar (black-green with yellow drawing), 2012, stoneware, slips, and glazes, 11” x 13”

Susan Dewsnap, Inset Lid Jar 3 (B&W), 2014, stoneware, slips, and glazes, 6” x 6”

Adriane Herman, Meat Bank, 2013, inlaid burnishing clay on wooden panel, 16” x 16”

Adriane Herman, Refill, 2013, inlaid burnishing clay on wooden panel, 16” x 16”

John Knight, Celandine Drawing, 2014, pencil and acrylic on mylar, 36” x 30”

John Knight, Oxeye Daisy Drawing, 2013, pencil and acrylic on mylar, 36” x 30”

John Knight, St. John’s Wort Drawing, 2014, pencil and acrylic on mylar, 36” x 30”

Fred Michel, from_bouquet_55784.01_2013, 2013, digital photograph, 14” x 11”

Fred Michel, Malus_’RedJade’_Malus_’AmericanBeauty’_Pyrus_calleryana_55613.01 2013, 2013, digital photograph, 14” x 11”

Fred Michel, Phaseolus_vulgaris_55639.01_2013, 2013, digital photograph, 14” x 11”

Munira Naqui, Reeds, 2013, encaustic and graphite powder on wood panel, 11” x 9”

Munira Naqui, Watermark, 2013, encaustic and graphite powder on aluminum panel, 20” x 20”

Munira Naqui, Whitelines III, 2013, encaustic and graphite powder on aluminum panel, 10” x 22”

Sean O’Brien, Bear Island Boat, 2013, plywood, fiberglass, copper wire, 48” x 48”

Sean O’Brien, WAVEPARTICLE, 2012, Autostereogram (“Magic Eye”) and Augmented Reality App enabled Window Decal Digital print, 55” x 85”

Dennis Pinette, Mack Point and Sears Island #4, 2013, graphite on paper 5” x 14”

Dennis Pinette, Mack Point Fuel Terminal #1, 2013, graphite on paper 5” x 14”

Daphne Taylor, Quilt Drawing #15, 2012, silk fabric, cotton backing, cotton embroidery thread. Whole cloth, hand quilted, hand embroidered, 39” x 53”

Sharon Townshend, Borestone Dream, 2014, terra cotta, 24” x 19” x 4”

Sharon Townshend, Riff, 2014, terra cotta, 17” x 43” x 4”

Jennifer Wilkey, Bird Hotel with Cedar Waxwing, 2013, digital inkjet print, 16” x 20”

Jennifer Wilkey, Flycatcher in Hand, 2013, digital inkjet print, 16” x 20”

Jennifer Wilkey, Hairy Woodpecker Vs Hand, 2013, digital inkjet print, 20” x 16”

Jennifer Wilkey, Weighing a Northern Waterthrush, 2013, digital inkjet print, 16” x 20”

Jennifer Wilkey, Willet in Bird Bag, 2013, digital inkjet print; 16” x 20”

Jeff Woodbury, beetlerunes group of 12, 2013, gravestone rubbing wax on paper, 12” x 9”

Jeff Woodbury, beetlerunes rubbing with log, in process, 2012, gravestone rubbing wax on paper, 12” x 9”