Jar Head

I visited the Taubman Museum of Art today, which is very close to the conference center where I'm staying. (I should make clear that my previous pics come from the sale gallery at the Center in the Square on Campbell Ave, Roanoke). I found this jar interesting, as it reminds me of the 'Grotesque heads' I have discussed previously on this blog. It was made from ceramic by Sid Luck and Stacy Lambert.







Here we see, once again, the merging of human and nonhuman; men's faces erupting from an otherwise functional object. This sculpture was from the contemporary gallery, where the theme of human/nonhuman was everywhere to be seen. I also really liked these two figures, sitting quietly at different points in the museum:





The one above was modeled from plastic, perhaps Glad-Wrap. The one below was covered in fake fur.





I couldn't find an artist's name anywhere, but perhaps someone else knows who made them? Please let me know if you do.

Then there was this, by Judith Schaechter, which I found quite mesmerizing:





The description was illuminating, so I've included it here as well.




The conference proper begins this evening, with an opening presentation by Alondra Nelson, so I probably won't have anymore time to sightsee. It was definitely a good idea to arrive early.

Roanoke, VA

A few more pics from my wanderings in downtown Roanoke.








You know your hoarding has become a problem when your car looks like this:



Hotel Roanoke (an 'hysterical icon' according to the 83 year old comedienne who works at the local museum):


Speaking of the museum... here it is:











The carousel horses were once stolen, only to be found later 'abandoned' in a field. I conjecture that the poor things just wanted some damn grass. They seem stressed anyway.


A scale model of the rollercoaster that used to grace Roanoke's now deceased amusement park:





Don't look now, but SOMEONE IS FALLING OUT.



I enjoyed the unrequited man-love subtext of this painting:



But where is his hand? Spooky.



I think that's enough for now. I'm going to go continue my quest for fruit, which has been... well, fruitless so far.

Virginia's Grotesques

Well, I'm officially blogging from the town (city?) of Roanoke in Virginia, USA. Without going into too much detail, the trip here was long and difficult. Totally worth it, however, because I have already found much grotesqueness to entertain me. I visited some of the local art galleries today, so here are a few pics of my favourite works so far.

These are by local artist Greg Ballou:



























I overheard a young woman telling her boyfriend that she wanted the Wizard of Oz sculpture "more than she had ever wanted anything in her life." I'm sure he was thrilled by this statement. But I totally understand the feeling.

These are by Mary Tousman:





These are by Cheryl Dolby, who I was lucky enough to meet at the gallery:








Amazing. Anybody who finds themselves near Roanoke should definitely check out the local galleries.

Grotesk in the USA

Volcano or no volcano, I'm heading off to Virginia Tech's Gender, Bodies and Technology Conference on Monday. After that I will be in New York for a little while, completing some research. My internet access will be sporadic, so the blog could be a bit quiet until I get back. Or not. I'm not sure yet. In any case, for those of you tragically unable to witness my presentation, here is what I will be talking about:








Ooh. Intriguing.