Tomorrow is opening day for our newest photography exhibition, Restoration: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. I had a chance to tour the exhibition this morning with curator Jane Aspinwall. As usual, I learned something I hadn't known and I'm here to share it with you.
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison are local artists who have made good. Robert is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and Shana has local ties as well. The couple have officially been collaborating since 2000, and they currently have an exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York.
I have to admit from what I had seen previously, I considered their work to be a bit dreary. I'm happy to say I have changed my tune. Their work is very much about hope for the future and the good inside everyone of us.
Restoration contains 15 photographs from the ParkeHarrison's recent series ranging in date from 1998 to the present. The artists use found and handmade objects to create elaborate images that draw you into their ongoing tale of "the Everyman." This character is the sole inhabitant of a damaged world who works tirelessly to restore the soil, clean up debris and even reteach the birds to fly.
In some images, we see Everyman with enormous tools including a hammer, wrench and rake. He is seen trying to accomplish mammoth tasks such as cleaning up a huge mountain of debris or build a wooden bridge across an open body of water. The scales of the tools indicate the enormity of his task.
In other images, Everyman uses technology to help reinvigorate the earth. One image called Night Garden shows him planting flowers in a field. Planted alongside each flower are decorative lights (the kind you would find on a string of Christmas lights). With the mess of wires strewn among the flowers, the question seems to be in using technology, is Everyman doing more harm than help?
There is a logical sequence as Everyman continues to work day in and day out to accomplish his overwhelming task in ways that are more than inefficient. Eventually, he becomes worn down to the point where he is sitting in a drab room that looks like a prison cell (Mourning Cloak, above). He sits with his back to the viewer without a shirt. He is hunched over looking at his hands. His pasty white skin is almost glowing from the one source of light in the room - a small sliver of window at the top of the ceiling.
The turning point is that his head, back and arms are covered with vibrant butterflies. As curator Jane explained, this is an image where the tables have turned on the Everyman. Instead of him trying to rejuvenate the earth, nature is trying to reinvigorate him.
The ParkeHarrisons will visit the Museum on Nov. 22 for a discussion of their work.