The Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art ~ May 29th

I finally made it to the 2011 biennial show at the Portland Museum of Art the other night. The show includes 65 works of art from 47 artists with ties to Maine. There were some really interesting pieces in the show, and I thought I'd share a few with you. (Please click on each image for a better view.)

This is one of my favorites, an interactive exhibit called Synergy 17.

The globules are each made from 3 lbs. of wax.

I love the colors of this painting, Early Morning Light.

The exhibit made of chairs in the foreground is from artist Lauren O’Neal. It's called The Earnest Contingent.

This huge cut-paper piece is Natasha Bowdoin's Untitled Alice. One blogger described it as "a visual take on Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass."

 

A patron walks by Calvary #2 by Marissa Girard

Below is a view of For The Trees by Avy Claire of Blue Hill, a series of panels of polyester film upon which the artist used a rapidograph to create a forest of ethereal trees from words.

I was impressed by this huge drawing of a barn. I can't imagine how many hours it took artist Carol Rowan to create it.

As someone who loves mixed media, I got a kick out of the fact that artist John Walker used bingo cards as backgrounds for his oil sketches.

And, because it's my blog and I can do what I want, here are 4 photos from this Maine photographer that were submitted to the biennial but not chosen for inclusion in the show:

Sunset Reflected by Elizabeth T. Schoch

Forgotten by Elizabeth T. Schoch

Stacks by Elizabeth T. Schoch

Twilight Silhouette by Elizabeth T. Schoch

I call this series of photographs Looking Up. These photos were created on two evenings in April 2010 as I walked through the section of Portland, Maine, bordered by India Street, Federal Street, Hancock Street, and Commercial Street.

As I walked through the spring evening, I wanted to take a different perspective when shooting. I began shooting up at what was above and around me. With this exercise, a number of questions arose: How often in our busy lives do we take time to truly notice our surroundings? How often do we look above eye level? What are we missing as we move through the world?

What I found when I looked up were colors, textures, shapes, and architectural details that intrigued me.

I hope you've enjoyed this mini art show. There are several articles that have been written about the biennial, so if you'd like to read more and see more photos, view a list of articles here. You can also read about the prize winners here. If you're in the area and haven't seen the show yet, it'll be up through June 5th.