An exhibition by highly accomplished artists about creepy crawlers? Surely you jest! Not so fast folks. If you allow yourself just a bit of being open to that which you usually shut down about, magical things can happen.
When I first pitched this show to my editor, I felt excited about it. Because it’s quirky, it’s courageously creative and surely it was a professional challenge for the artists. I’ve experienced with artists that when they stretch themselves to do that which they’ve never done, there’s usually growth, excitement and inspiration. This show is even more fun because it is a site-specific one-of-a-kind exhibition. Never to be seen again quite like what you will experience at the Lamont Gallery.
So, it is with “Strange Kin.” This show is by Jennifer Angus, Catherine Chalmers, Kate Kato, Ruth Marsh and Britt Ransom, five female artists from the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, who have relished in the freedom of a recommendation by Phillip Exeter Academy’s Lamont Gallery’s director and curator, Pam Meadows, who selected artists of various mediums and messages. She shared her concept of “a bug show,” and asked them to propose something they’d really want to do. I can still hear the shouts of joy!
The five women have a common respect for a swarm of tiny critters — real and faux — and foster a deep desire to encourage a healthy environment in which they can live.