Article by Ian P.E.
Artist: Ron Copeland
It was promoted as – “an eye-popping exhibition featuring the work of eleven emerging artists from Stark County. The work will literally fill the Museum’s main gallery, floor to ceiling in the style of the Parisian salons of a century past, but with a clear focus on cutting-edge art of today.” – and the Stark Naked Salon definitely followed through on the billing.
It was my first trip down to the Massillon Museum, and was well worth the hour drive. Upon arrival, the hang was definitely not of the small town variety, but in fact, much more creatively displayed than many shows that I’ve attended at similarly billed museum exhibitions in large market, international cities. The details and concepts were well thought out by curators Alexandra Nicholis and Dan Kane, who indeed brought together a talented group of “fresh” artists who were able to fill out the space and achieve an overall impact, disserving of a museum setting.
The exhibition was reflective of our post-industrial landscapes, even though no actual landscapes were actually included…many of the works were painted, stenciled and drawn upon found objects and successfully conveyed a sense of decay and rebirth. But again, it was not just a hodge-podge of random works – each artist’s display worked toward an overall impact, instead of merely throwing together a collection of disparate pieces…almost every section could be looked at from a distance, and enjoyed as a cohesive larger work in itself.
Ron Copeland’s display was a prime example of how an artist can look beyond a single, small work’s own identity, and connect it to the whole. He continues to excel with his hangs, which resemble something akin to a floating mass of stylized trash floating down the Cuyahoga River…remnants of billboard slogans and unidentifiable pop-culture iconography run through it all, stenciled and spray painted over shredded wallpaper, brown paper and plywood…a bucket of house paint hanging from a string of twine was a particularly genius touch.
Artist: Scot Philips
Another high point of the exhibit was Joseph Close’s anarchistic, yet highly organic use of almost every fine art technique under the sun – from large scale metal sculptures to finely drawn illustrations, his work defies categorization and holds surprises at every turn. His centerpiece (composed of piano parts, telephones and various other found objects painted and drawn upon) showed a mastery of three dimensional form, walking around the work was a constant pleasure filled with vague social comments strewn out along an ever changing line of perspective.
Also featured, was the art of Steve Ehret (covered in Pink Eye #5). A ceiling to floor black and white graffiti piece tied his various monsters and other strange imaginations together, which despite his finely rendered technique, still captured the vibe of the streets.
It’s a really positive sign that a museum like this was able to move into the 21st Century and truly capture the vibe of all the exciting art being made by local artists in the area. Their exhibition was a huge success in every way (bringing in more than 1,200 people on opening night alone) and provided a ton of much disserved exposure to all of the talented artists involved.
For more information on the Massillon Museum, visit them online at www.massillonmuseum.org
