Berkshire Museum
39 South Street
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Through October 11
The Berkshire Museum has recently expanded its mission to include special exhibits of regional contemporary artists, an outreach unique among the county’s five major museums. “Spatial Relationships” sets a new benchmark in this initiative.lt;/p>
Housed in the expansive central
gallery, the exhibit showcases the
sculpture of Joe Wheaton and Susan
Rodgers, two established artists
working principally in metal. Nearly
20 works are on hand, and most of
the pieces were specifically made for
the show. Responding to the open
space, a few of Wheaton’s works are
sweepingly large.
Wheaton experimentally produced
three assemblages that incorporate
such playful materials as brightly
painted, baked chicken feet and pink
eraser dust. The most serious piece, “2 Rocks,” addresses the theme of
artificiality in modern society. Thirty
shining cans bear the stamp BEEF
WITH JUICES and the silhouette of a
cow — effective symbols of canned
nature. In the midst of this bovine
landscape, a cropped photo of the
blonde transsexual Amanda Lepore
ominously stares out. Beneath, a
toy figure of a boy plays with scrap
metal at a construction site, where
two rocks represent nature’s dwindled
refuge.
Wheaton’s metal pieces sustain a
dialogue between mass and line. In
“Room #909” — an 18-foot-wide door
dangles overhead — formulating into
a narrow red band that shoots across
the wall, terminating in an explosion
of erratic movement. A black hulky
passenger rides along, crumpling
and collapsing under the velocity.
The visual concept is rather like
space junk drafting on a comet’s tail,
suggesting both humor and irony.
A similar correlation exists in “Arm
Candy #2;” a handsome, vaguely
anthropomorphic, rectilinear form
stands bolt upright. The elegant
black structure, one of Wheaton’s
most impressive, elicits faint
whispers of Art Deco and even Dogon sculpture. Springing from the top, a
wishbone-shaped element dangles a
hinged arm, which sports a sensuous,
metallic ribbon in candy-apple red.
The title leaves little doubt about
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