Anno Divluvii: The surveyor and the sea god (2024, acrylic on wood panel, 48×36”) by Mark Adams
Review by Rebecca M. Alvin
On view currently at the Schoolhouse Gallery is a show of works by eight distinct artists in a variety of media, each offering a stunning set of new work. The grouping of these particular works is testament to the curatorial expertise of gallery owner Mike Carroll, who managed to mount an exhibition of works that, diverse as they are, speak to each other and collectively impress upon the viewer a general idea of the state of human existence as a component of a larger ecosystem and a universe that offers mysteries more than answers.
Upon entering the Schoolhouse, on your left, in the small room is a suite of photographs by Ted Kincaid entitled Queer Alchemy: Arcane Auras, which explores metaphysical implications of queer identity in the form of ethereal photographs dominated by shades of blue from deepest midnight to sky blue. Directly across, to your right is a vivid collection of new works by Mark Adams that represents a departure for him, in some respects, while also being very much in line with his usual approach. These images are bold and graphic, fluid imagery contained within clear, hard-lined structures, and they feature text in Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, and English. There is something spiritual about these images even as they also remind one of commercial signs from the past, a kind of mixture of quasi-religious panels and poster art.
The show also features the mounted fabric animal heads Breon Dunigan is well known for, Paul Stopforth’s gouache paintings of various male bodies at work and at leisure; new work by Lydia Kinney, an abstract painter; and Sean Flood’s new paintings, which also depart from his best-known cityscapes. Like Adams, Flood’s work mixed fluid and hard lines and is also both old and new in relation to his previous works, set in new environments and somewhat more abstract than the cityscapes. The conceptual art photographers Kahn & Selesnick present a photographic mural in the back room of the gallery, featuring scores of images that conflate historical and contemporary sensibilities to create a timelessness that has long been a feature of their work. In addition, there are aluminum prints that are also quite evocative.
And then there is Fred Liang’s installation piece, We the People, which incorporates the titular phrase, as written by numerous immigrant participants and cut out into strands and wrapped around a globe-like chandelier, lit from within by LED lights and constructed out of stainless steel and paper. It is accompanied by a video projection that features a range of imagery from time-lapse images of a flower closing to human recreational activities, to insect life. The piece has to be seen to understand and feel its impact, so I suggest you take a trip over to the gallery to see it and all of the works on view before this highlight of the gallery season closes.
This group show is on view through August 6 at Schoolhouse Gallery, 494 Commercial St., Provincetown. For more information call 508.487.4800 or visit galleryschoolhouse.com.
