Everything Will Be Okay & Space is Not Enough
Two for the Price of Free Admission
a Dual Art Review
at Allegheny College
In his current show, Everything Will Be Okay, Ian F. Thomas confronts a singular topic: gun violence. His forthrightness offers an honest, aesthetic vision on a serious topic that Americans witness almost daily.
My works are ruminations on this dark undercurrent of American culture that both captivates and horrifies in seemingly equal measure. I do not have the answers for this complex situation…, said Thomas (who currently serves as the Art Department Chair and Associate Professor at Allegheny College), in his artist’s statement.
Thomas’ theme of gun violence is presented in numerous media, whether it’s oil on canvas, porcelain, cast glass or sculpture.
American Dream is an oil on canvas artwork based on Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Grant Wood’s American Gothic, according to gallery information. It features the artist’s two young children within a sepia-toned painting. Portraying a sense of innocence upon their faces while holding a rifle and an anti-tank weapon, respectively, the sepia hints at a long-ago time, while the image suggests that our current progeny are loaded for bear.
Relics of Burden (see image) features a menagerie of 12-year old left behind stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. The stuffed animals are piled together forming a cushy mountain with a teacher’s chair at its core. Though disarmingly cute, the dolls, teddy bears and other cuddly toys take a darker turn that hints at innocence lost with society’s innocents lost.
A multi-piece sculpture, Shot contains a three-inch thick slug of clay that was shot with an AR-15-style weapon at a distance of common shootings. Its purpose? To illustrate the ferocity of this style weapon that produces a softball-size cavity within the clay pieces.
According to Trevor King’s artist’s statement, Space is Not Enough, is a show of personal narratives. I was born with an incredible sense of nostalgia, or perhaps I developed this through my childhood as a product of the post-industrial landscape, high doses of Disney storytelling and biology.
King grew up in Butler, PA., was educated at Slippery Rock University and lives and works in New York City.
Don’t Drown Painting, made of acrylic paint, plywood and two cicada specimens, offers a little humor within the two shows that features somber, experimental and sometimes quizzical artworks. A bright yellow circular sign, it shows a smiling green fish above the remaining portion of the expression, it will spoil your day.
Several Empty Rooms is an aural experiment. King filmed and recorded ambient room tone within vacant spaces, some within nearby Butler. He then manipulated these sounds by increasing their levels to a loud, humming drone when listened to through provided earphones.
Bathers is a video projection that’s inspired by bathing scenes from the Impressionist painters. Created by YouTube scenes of cliff jumpers, the images are blurry, black blobs that disappear into a spectrum of bright colors. Presented on a recurring loop, it’s hypnotic.
Heads up: Both portions of the shows aren’t numbered. Thus, sometimes it takes a little detective work to figure out some of the artworks. Even with the exhibit guides, the reviewer found himself scratching his head trying to find certain creations by their offbeat titles and descriptions.
Nonetheless, whether producing a singular statement or multiple imaginings, Thomas and King’s imaginative ideas are certainly worth visiting.
***GG
Everything Will Be Okay and Space is not Enough run through March 1. The Allegheny Art Galleries are located on the first floor of Doane Hall of Art, adjacent to the Allegheny College Campus Center at 490 Highland Ave, Meadville. For more information visit www.alleghenyartgalleries.com
