If you are Stephen Towns, this is your summer at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Towns is a local artist who uses both paint and fabric, etc. to create some gorgeous works of art. Keenly tied to his sense of history and what it means to be Black in this time and place--he draws upon iconic ideas with historic roots to speak truth to us today. As a quilter, I could adore his techniques. As a human being I was absorbed into his intentions--challenged, schooled, revealed and left with my own paradigms to reconcile. There is an art to experiencing art--if you think that it is a passive encounter, you have cheated yourself. And if that were true, there would be no point to art. It is a shame that so many people feel themselves complete with no art in their lives. I can't imagine mine without it.
RUMINATION AND A RECKONING
I'll let the words on the wall do the talking here. You can click on the image to enlarge it if you want to learn more. I will made this observation, from a quilter's perspective--it was clear that the selection of particular fabrics was very painstakingly integral to the works. The palate and the patterns reflected often the motifs present at the time of the Civil War and beyond, but also the present. The melding of these gave the works a added layer of meaning and power.
"Special Child" 2016
"The Baptism of Ethelred T. Brantley" 2018
"The March to Jerusalem" 2018
"One Night at Cabin Pond" 2016
Left: "Let Not Man Put Asunder: Portrait of Nat Turner" 2018 and
Right: "Let Not Man Put Asunder: Portrait of Cherry Turner" 2018
from works included in an exhibition of the finalists for the JANET & WALTER SONDHEIM ARTSCAPE PRIZE
Stephen was a finalist, but did not win. Still the works represented here add to the works in his focus exhibition to demonstrate why he made the short list.
The larger view followed by some individual and small group close-ups.
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