Maine Art: “As We Are” at PMA

Who are some of the most promising emerging Maine artists, and how do they and their work relate to one another? These connections – whether it is common artistic themes of identity, kinship, and ecology – or their shared artist community - are at the heart of As We Are at the Portland Museum of Art.

The show’s curator, Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, is relatively new to both the PMA and Maine itself, having joined the PMA as Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art in May of 2023, from a teaching position at UCLA. Prior to moving here, he had visited Maine only a few times, so curating an exhibition of contemporary Maine artists was a tall order of business. Mukhopadhyay’s approach was essentially to tap into the interconnections between Maine artists. Visiting one artist and hearing their story and talking about his curatorial objective would lead that artist to recommend another artist whom they had shared studio space with, or studied at Maine College of Art (MECA) with, or shared a mentor with. Maine’s many residency programs (Hewnoaks, Surf Point, Skowhegan) were at particularly rich vein of connections that he tapped into.    

The studio visits were a way to get immersed in the materiality of the art itself – the process and mechanics – to better understand what’s inside the artist’s head as they create the art. You can’t get this level of insight from even the most well-crafted artist statement, or from images of the finished work. “We’re inundated with images, and the images dematerialize the art,” Mukhopadhyay said during a recent panel discussion. But the studio visits accomplished so much more, helping to identify one of the core themes of the exhibit. Over the course of dozens of studio visits, Mukhopadhyay was particularly impressed with the lack of competition between Maine artists -- how they were building one another up, and excited to share one other’s art. These artists had essentially created their own family, and one of the themes that runs through much of the art in the show is the need for human connection, and the life-sustaining power of family, whether that is birth family or the families that you create.

Another common theme that Mukhopadhyay discussed is a growing connection to the state’s ecology. And it’s not just about negative imagery, about showing the destruction and loss that climate change has wrought, but positive imagery as well. Essentially the artists are seeking to convey that “the very sensuality of our natural world is what makes it worth saving.” A lot of this is life-affirming art, art that conveys joy. And “the world needs more joy,” said Mukhopadhyay. Amen.

There are 14 artists in this show, but for reasons of limited space, this blog covers only my four personal favorites.

Rachel Gloria Adams

Rachel Gloria Adams, Every Morning, 2024, Acrylic, corduroy, linen, cotton, and wool

Adams’s paintings on quilt are the first thing you see when entering the exhibit, and the tenderness and love expressed in these works is powerful. The calligraphic brush strokes convey so much emotion through very few lines and only one color. The sewn edges of the quilts are where the color resides – creating energetic frames for these quiet domestic moments. As in the art of calligraphy, the borders add an integral layer of visual appeal. The brush work in the central images is outstanding, and is made even more powerful by these vivid borders.

Meg Hahn

Meg Hahn, Cut Out Shadows 3, 2024, Oil on panel, 17.5 x 18 inches

Working on a much smaller scale, Hahn layers vibrantly colored shapes and architectural forms, often using subtle color variations to build visual interest and draw the viewer in for a closer look. I was drawn to these paintings for their love of pure color. Each of these oil on panel paintings has a quiet energy that feels as though it is barely contained by the relatively small format.

Tessa Greene O’Brien

Tessa Greene O'Brien, BZ's Window, 2024, oil, bleach, acrylic on dyed canvas, 60” x 48”

The tranquil domesticity of BZ’s kitchen captivated me for its use of white. It reminds me of my early, tentative watercolor days, when the Japanese instructor I was working under insisted on leaving significant portions of the paper unpainted, which was always a challenge for me. Here the white apparently comes from the select application of bleach. The countertop in this domestic scene is a little cluttered with bottles and objects -- this is a kitchen that is clearly well-used. There is no clue who BZ is, or their relation to O’Brien, but I suspect they are someone for whom creating and serving food is/was the language of love. 

James Parker Foley

James Parker Foley, Divers Approaching Infinite Density, 72” x 60,” oil on linen, 2023

In this mystical piece, the two bodies appear to be simultaneously moving toward and away from each other, and it’s not clear whether they will ever touch one another. They are each engaged in a graceful, arching movement, seemingly reaching for a colorful orb that is just out of reach. The inky blues of the sea and sky are very close in value and intensity, and the boundary between them runs on a gravity-defying slope, making them seem almost as one. As with many other works, there is little to inform interpretation of the piece so we are left to our own imagination. The wall label for this section simply reads: “for painter James Parker Foley, the water serves as a metaphor for the mind: a vast expanse through which we can ponder, consider, contemplate, and grow. For him, water is a place of becoming.”

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As We Are continues to develop the museum’s mission of “Art for All” - providing programming that gives new artists opportunities and breaks new ground, while expanding access to art for people who haven’t always had the chance to enjoy it. The retrospective of Wabanaki artist Jeremy Frey’s woven art was a significant step here, and As We Are includes an extensive program to expand inclusivity by bringing the audience into conversations with the artists. There are five artist conversations scheduled between November and March with different combinations of the featured artists; all events are listed on the museum’s web site. I look forward to attending at least a few of these events and learning more about each artist’s methods, process and inspiration. (As a final note, the artist videos in some previous shows such as Katherine Bradford’s were informative and entertaining. It would be a great addition to this show if artist videos were included. The planned in-person discussions are obviously more interactive, but not everyone can attend these evening programs.)  

Previous blog posts on Maine/ New England art exhibits:

Lynne Drexler’s colorful abstract paintings at the Farnsworth: https://www.marciacrumleyart.com/blog/maine-art-review-lynne-drexler-at-the-farnsworth

Claire Van Vliet’s pulp paintings at the Boston Athenaeum: https://www.marciacrumleyart.com/blog/boston-art-review-claire-van-vliets-pulp-paintings-at-the-boston-athenaeum

Ogunquit Museum of American Art: https://www.marciacrumleyart.com/blog/ogunquit-museum-of-american-art