PHOTO OF JESSE AARON WITH ONE OF HIS SCULPTURES IN GAINESVILLE, BY PEGGY A. BULGER, VIA WIKIPEDIA
The Mennello Museum of American Art (Website) will open three new exhibitions on Friday, February 6, under the umbrella of “Faith and Vision: Spirituality in Self-Taught Art,” a collection-based show focused on how self-taught artists translated belief, ritual, and lived environment into visual worlds. An opening reception is scheduled that evening at the museum, located at 900 E. Princeton Street [GMap], with a members-only preview from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., followed by a free public reception from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“Faith and Vision” featuresworks by self-taught artists from the Mennello’s collection, framing spirituality as both subject matter and creative engine. The museum describes the exhibition as spanning “intuitive messages” and “peaceable kingdoms,” with artists making paintings and sculptures shaped by faith traditions, cultural practices, and regional context. The artist list includes Gail Campbell, William Edmondson, Minnie Evans, Howard Finster, Regine Gilbert, Alyne Harris, Bessie Harvey, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Elijah Pierce, Nellie Mae Rowe, Ellis Ruley, Mose Tolliver, and Purvis Young. The exhibition runs from February 6 through May 3.
Opening the same day, “Jesse J. Aaron: Spirit in the Wood” focuses on the Florida artist’s carved forms, which the museum describes as an effort to release spiritual forces he believed were inherent in trees in his yard, like cedar and cypress. Also opening is “John D. Gerdes: Sacred Algorithm,” featuring three works from Gerdes’ “Kaleidoscope” series, where geometric patterning and mirrored symmetry are positioned as a space for contemplation about technology, art, and spirituality. Both shows, like “Faith and Vision,” are also on view February 6 through May 3.
Click HERE for more information, or listen to a recent interview with the museum’s executive director, Shannon Fitzgerald.
