Grace Hudson Museum

February 21 to May 16, 2004

"Look Up", Linda MacDonald, oil on canvas

This exhibition showcases the humorous perspective of nine regional artists, each of whose work provides us with glimpses of alternate realities. While not a complete survey of Mendocino County's artists of humor, this exhibit does reveal recurring themes.

Animal imagery plays a large role in the exhibit's more whimsical pieces. In the work of Daphne Gillen, Paula Gray and Ada B. Fine, the artists cast animal actors in comic roles. Daphne and Paula are likely to portray almost any animal, although their bias towards dogs is evident. Sophisticated art history references enter the scene associating animal subjects with classic art themes. Ada's duck (and dogs) exist in a parallel universe of regal "quack" Egyptian mythology.

"Van Gogh's Dog", Paula Gray, Glicee Print

"The Great Duck Sphinx", Ada B. Fine, mixed media

"The Last Supper", Daphne Gillen, low fire ceramic

Claudia Graham has chosen a fluid naive painting style to achieve her whimsical visions. The resulting animal paintings and lighthearted portraits of friends and neighbors are hilarious. Her renditions seek the childlike innocence in her subjects hidden amidst their middle age spread.

In the exhibit's more surreal images, the comic juxtaposition of county living and the urban sophistication of recent urban immigrants becomes a central subject. Mary Case Dekker and Cynda Valle depict incidents where the realities and mythologies of these two different worlds collide or merge. In Linda MacDonald's work (top of page) the two separate realities in conflict are those of the natural world and that of corporate values.

"Mother of the Bride", Mary Case Dekker, pastel

"Some Bring More to the Table Than Others", Claudia Graham, oil on hardboard

"Drinking with Olympia", Cynda Valle, oil on panel

In Mac Magruder's and Elizabeth Raybee's art, the schism between rural and urban life has been bridged and molded into a modern repertoire of multiple life references. Looking at Mac's very contemporary sculptures, we ponder his rich assemblage of imagery while chuckling wryly. Elizabeth's mosaics and ceramics (top, left) examine the absurdity of a range of affectations and masquerades which individuals adopt.

"Leftovers Nightmare", Mac Magruder, earthenware

While you enjoy the light to dark humor of this art, be prepared to laugh, perhaps even at yourself. In fact, the overall message of the show can be best summed up as "accept whimsy and enjoy the absurdities of our modern rural/cosmopolitan life (while we are pondering how to best preserve it)."