A Milestone of This Pandemic

 

On October 1st, the Phoenix Art Museum opened to members only for the first time since the pandemic lock-down occurred in mid-March.  If all goes well, they plan on opening to the public on October 14th.  I made a reservation and went yesterday morning at 10:00.  It felt so good to do something I enjoy so much but have been unable to do for so long.  

And the best part is, they had two fabulous contemporary art exhibits.

My favorite one was a mid-career retrospective of the art work of Teresita Fernandez called "Elemental".  I was blown away by her amazing talent and creative mind.  This portion of the exhibit was called "Fire".  It consisted of several large glazed ceramic images of fire along with a circle of stretched yarn that also looked like fire.  

The "Fire" portion of the show extended into another similarly themed exhibit called "America" which consisted of 57 pieces of charcoal shaped to represent all of the contiguous states.  Running along the wall of both exhibits was a long horizon line of rough-hewn blocks of charred wood encircling the gallery.

Here's a close-up of that line and the smokey whispers around it.  "Through this work Fernandez is saying something essential about the United States, about its conbustable politics, its simmering rages, but more subtly she is suggesting that to understand a place, one has to grasp the essential characteristics that lie beneath its surface - or you are lost." (quoted from a book about her work) 

Of course looking at these four photos won't convey the true impact of the exhibit.  It really was simply stunning to see.  I'll show you a few more pieces tomorrow.