L. Kent Wolgamott: ‘Personal Histories’ an impressive show at Tugboat
In asking a handful of artists to, in some fashion, specifically document their lives, “Personal Histories,” could have been a self-indulgent disaster.
Instead, guest curator Caitlin Applegate has put together a small, but impressive show at the Tugboat Gallery that mixes her sculptural ceramics with paintings by Carlos Guerrero, photographs from Larry Gawel and mixed-media hanging sculptures from Ying Zhu — all telling personal “stories,” each using a different medium.
The most moving of the bunch are the 13 blurry images that make up Gawel’s series “hisStory.”
Drawn from 48 minutes of home movie film Gawel found in his mother’s basement, then shot with a still camera while the movie was being projected, the “hisStory” series is, to the viewer, an examination of memory — the haze of the photos analogous to the ever fuzzy realm of memory and constructed memory.
For Gawel, the photographs recover something he didn’t have — time with his father, who shot the films in the late ’60s. Gawel was a year old when his father committed suicide while stationed in the military in Germany. The casually shot films of kids swimming, people talking, etc., provided Gawel with a different view of the father he never knew. That bit of information makes the “hisStory” series touching as well as provocative.
Also tied directly to a parent are Ying Zhu’s hanging sculptures.
In an untitled piece, a Chinese journal has been twisted and compressed into oblong beads that hang in long chains from a shower head. The journal, Zhu has said, was given to her by her mother, designed to tell her how to be a “good Chinese girl,” the shower head metaphorically washing it away.
“From Mother’s Hand to Mine,” Zhu’s other piece, starts on the wall then spills out on the gallery floor.
Made of quarter-inch-wide strips of notebook paper woven into a long scroll, the piece again addresses her Chinese heritage in both its scroll form and in the characters written on it. It’s also likely a commentary on the life of a student — the constant taking of notes which will soon be discarded.
Guerrero’s paintings, made in acrylic and mixed media, are a more diverse lot.
One series called “Plastic Passions” explores variations on a light fixture. Another grouping of images suggests a historic narrative — “Head,” a depiction of an African American’s head, which is next to “Catching the Spirit,” which combines a portrait of a Civil War-era officer with a light fixture. That painting hangs next to “Fallin’ South,” in which a politician (I’m guessing) gives a speech. The final image of the series is of a World War II through Vietnam-era bomber “Dreaming of a Midnight Raid.”
The keys to tying them together are “Falling Down,” in which a little kid’s three-wheel is moving out of the frame, and “Tennessee,” a depiction of a dog against a picket fence, dominated by orange coloring. That connection to childhood lets the other pictures fall into a “personal story” of learning and growing.
Applegate included just two of her sculptural ceramics — “My Mother Myself,” a life-sized depiction of a woman naked except for white panties that “looks” directly at the viewer, and an untitled piece in which a pair of stoneware arms and hands hang from coat hooks.
Again, it’s not hard to see the personal story behind both of those pieces.
The well-thought-out, meaning-filled show is also a farewell to Lincoln for Applegate, who, after receiving her MFA at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is moving away to teach at the State University of New York at Cortland. Applegate has made some of the most interesting work on the local scene over the last few years. She’ll be missed.
Tugboat Gallery is located at 116 N. 14th, on the second floor above Gomez Art Supply. It is open by appointment. To see “Personal Histories,” which is on view through July 31, call Gomez Art Supply at 477-6200.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
Instead, guest curator Caitlin Applegate has put together a small, but impressive show at the Tugboat Gallery that mixes her sculptural ceramics with paintings by Carlos Guerrero, photographs from Larry Gawel and mixed-media hanging sculptures from Ying Zhu — all telling personal “stories,” each using a different medium.
The most moving of the bunch are the 13 blurry images that make up Gawel’s series “hisStory.”
Drawn from 48 minutes of home movie film Gawel found in his mother’s basement, then shot with a still camera while the movie was being projected, the “hisStory” series is, to the viewer, an examination of memory — the haze of the photos analogous to the ever fuzzy realm of memory and constructed memory.
For Gawel, the photographs recover something he didn’t have — time with his father, who shot the films in the late ’60s. Gawel was a year old when his father committed suicide while stationed in the military in Germany. The casually shot films of kids swimming, people talking, etc., provided Gawel with a different view of the father he never knew. That bit of information makes the “hisStory” series touching as well as provocative.
Also tied directly to a parent are Ying Zhu’s hanging sculptures.
In an untitled piece, a Chinese journal has been twisted and compressed into oblong beads that hang in long chains from a shower head. The journal, Zhu has said, was given to her by her mother, designed to tell her how to be a “good Chinese girl,” the shower head metaphorically washing it away.
“From Mother’s Hand to Mine,” Zhu’s other piece, starts on the wall then spills out on the gallery floor.
Made of quarter-inch-wide strips of notebook paper woven into a long scroll, the piece again addresses her Chinese heritage in both its scroll form and in the characters written on it. It’s also likely a commentary on the life of a student — the constant taking of notes which will soon be discarded.
Guerrero’s paintings, made in acrylic and mixed media, are a more diverse lot.
One series called “Plastic Passions” explores variations on a light fixture. Another grouping of images suggests a historic narrative — “Head,” a depiction of an African American’s head, which is next to “Catching the Spirit,” which combines a portrait of a Civil War-era officer with a light fixture. That painting hangs next to “Fallin’ South,” in which a politician (I’m guessing) gives a speech. The final image of the series is of a World War II through Vietnam-era bomber “Dreaming of a Midnight Raid.”
The keys to tying them together are “Falling Down,” in which a little kid’s three-wheel is moving out of the frame, and “Tennessee,” a depiction of a dog against a picket fence, dominated by orange coloring. That connection to childhood lets the other pictures fall into a “personal story” of learning and growing.
Applegate included just two of her sculptural ceramics — “My Mother Myself,” a life-sized depiction of a woman naked except for white panties that “looks” directly at the viewer, and an untitled piece in which a pair of stoneware arms and hands hang from coat hooks.
Again, it’s not hard to see the personal story behind both of those pieces.
The well-thought-out, meaning-filled show is also a farewell to Lincoln for Applegate, who, after receiving her MFA at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is moving away to teach at the State University of New York at Cortland. Applegate has made some of the most interesting work on the local scene over the last few years. She’ll be missed.
Tugboat Gallery is located at 116 N. 14th, on the second floor above Gomez Art Supply. It is open by appointment. To see “Personal Histories,” which is on view through July 31, call Gomez Art Supply at 477-6200.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
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