‘No Rules’
Durango Arts Center unveils playful group exhibit

'What the Hell Happened?' an anti-post feminist piece by Judy Hayes, part of DAC's "No Rules" exhibit

by Jules Masterjohn

If the many exhibits offered in the Barbara Conrad Gallery at the Durango Arts Center, the group exhibits can be some of the most informative regarding the creative process. By showcasing entire bodies of work by selected artists, the viewer can gain greater understanding and appreciation of an artist’s aesthetic and conceptual concerns.

The first of this year’s group exhibits, currently on display, is “No Rules.” The mixed-media works by Durango artists Judy Hayes and Deborah Gorton commingle with the objects and images by regional artists Susan Cardin and ceramic vessels by Fiona Clarke. The viewer gets an in-depth look into each artist’s process, not only through the visual works presented but also via the artists’ statements that accompany the works. In thee statements, one of the commonalities among the artists is the pleasure each derives from the creative process. Words like “enjoyment,” “delight,” “self-gratification” and “fun” indicate a playful attitude. In viewing their work, it is apparent these artists find making their work a sensual experience. Many pieces, much experimentation and some innovation can be found in this jam-packed show.

Susan Cardin, aka MarSan, demonstrates bravado with her materials, found objects boldly combined in sculptural works. Her ink sets, titled “Spiral Scroll,” “Write Grooming” and “Just Hanging,” are comprised of numerous antique artifacts, which are aesthetically arranged in a variations-on-a-theme format. The conceptual similarity of the objects – writing quills, eyeglasses and ink bottles – immediately attracts one’s eye and links the pieces.

Although these types of work are well designed and witty, they lack substance, instead offering art as decoration. MarSan puts it best in her artist statement, “My art is a merging of historical artifacts from cultures around the world, mixed with found objects, handmade papers and put together with today’s ingenuity.”

The label “decorative” is used by Judy Hayes in her artist’s statement as a term of identity with “women’s crafts,” such as knitting, sewing, beading and weaving, which have been relegated by the patriarchy to the lesser art forms. Intentionally, Hayes utilizes a few of these craft processes in her anti-post-feminist piece, “What the Hell Happened?” from her Women’s Issues series.

In this painting of a near life-sized female nude, awash in a sea of chilling blue pigment, Hayes drapes the figure with an actual knitted scarf, which is parted to reveal the nude’s fleshy derrière. A number of small, hand-made paper books bearing images of Martha Stewart, the words “Christian Right,” and a statistical graph comparing the wages of men and women, dangle from the scarf. A few warm-hued ribbons weave through the scarf, directing one’s eye down to the red stiletto pumps adorning the figure’s feet. The figure faces a reflection in the mirror, which wears a queen’s crown and looks out at the viewer.

Hayes, a 1960s style Feminist, is “incensed” by the attitudes of today’s young women, who don’t see a need for feminism any longer. Perhaps deep and strong emotions compelled her to exorcize her every thought concerning the injustices still present today. Though her intention to highlight the issues are worthy, as with so much “mes

Fiona Clarke’s ceramic vessels sit quietly around the gallery. The most interesting of the slab-built terracotta forms are baskets with bundled twig handles and carved designs. She juxtaposes raw, red clay surfaces, turquoise glazes and natural elements, creating affordable, comfortable pottery.

Deborah Gorton stays mostly within her creative comfort zone presenting a whimsical figurative sculpture, “Bare Bones,” as well as her usual multilayered, subtly textured mixed-media wall pieces. Though she has pushed her boundaries by making her largest 2-D pieces to date, the work is gorgeously predictable – except for the large, multi-panel canvas piece, “Hidden Meaning.” Despite the clamor of an overly full gallery, this earthen-hued piece pulled me through the gallery’s double doors like a tractor beam.

Like Google Earth, “Hidden Meaning,” offers a planetary overview that zooms into a close up, recognizable landscape. Gorton’s piece comes into focus slowly, however, and reveals an intuitive landscape, the terrain of the soul. The piece consists of 40 pages from a bible – collaged onto the canvas in a grid pattern – that buckle and heave as if they have undergone significant stress. Parts of barely readable biblical verse show through the washed, worn and rippled surface, words like “and the severity of god” and “Romans.”

“Hidden Meaning” embodies the energy of a well-used map, like an old, favored friend that has guided many long journeys through all manners of weather. Gorton has created a visual metaphor for the topography of the inner life – rich, authentic and familiar. •

“No Rules” is on display through March 31 at the Durango Arts Center, 802 E. Second Ave. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday.