Review

A review of Relative Values

"Relative Values," an exhibition featuring artwork within families, is on display through June 19, 2010, at the Columbia Art League. Photo: Sarah Handelman

Columbia Art League
Columbia, Missouri
April 20, 2010 — June 19, 2010

For many who have experienced a family reunion, the event is more of an endurance test than a pleasurable experience. You hug your way through the cousins you don't know, and you pay some dues — small-talking it up with the extended family members you never see and will easily forget. If you're lucky, by the end of it you will have at least developed a better story about who you are, and you probably will leave with some good impressions about where you come from.

Relative Values, now on display at the Columbia Art League, is like going to a family reunion — there is an overwhelming amount of art waiting to talk to you, and it isn't necessarily a good thing. For a juried show, an obvious and alarming lack of selectivity make what should be an intimate and personal subject severely less special. Although the title of the exhibition implies that family is tighter than stretched canvas, the sheer volume of forgettable works on display suggests that a family's artistic DNA is less nature and more nurture/supportive parent. Rather than basking in the genius of truly artistic gene pools, one is left to ruminate on the overuse and abuse of the term "artistic family."

Art Stauder's oil painting, "Red Barn at Sunset," hangs above his son's, Tom Stauder's, "White Bur Platter." Photo: Sarah Handelman

However, CAL and executive director Diana Moxon should be commended for taking on the ambitious idea of voyeuristically exploring the artistic depth of the families who have labeled themselves this way. And if you stick with the show, there are some serious standouts. A father's oil painting, Red Barn at Sunset, hangs above his son's sumptuously carved White Bur Platter. The crevices and crannies of the platter, created by sculptor and exhibition juror Tom Stauder, appear to have been lifted from his father's, Art Stauder's, painting. From the carved lines that circumnavigate the platter, to the wood fence in the painting, the pair of works is a tightly woven representation of surprising physical resemblance and family.

In a far corner, the contrasting fiber art of mother Carolyn Hahn-Schomaker and daughter Amy Schomaker work as an effective and moving generational interpretation of materials. A similar color palette ties the two pieces together, exploring the realm between more traditional and experimental methods, suggesting the ideas of youthful spontaneity and aging gracefully.

The Mehmert family's submission, comprised of a mother's colorful Celtic embroidery and two, hand-carved, wooden boxes by father and son, highlight the generational significance of craft, a subject that deserves equal, if not more attention and examination than self-proclaimed artistic families.

Photo: Sarah Handelman

Relative Values possesses real moments — though they are fleeting — of familial talent and credible, artistic ability. Near the entrance and almost-missable, mixed-media artist Lisa Bartlett's work is paired with a small, prewar watercolor by Julius J. Lankes, her great-uncle by marriage, which challenges not only the definition of family, but also historical perspective.

In a way, Relative Values is saved by the title itself, which suggests varying perceptions of what makes a family artistic. However, a more discerning jury would have elevated and strengthened the overall narrative. Ultimately, one can criticize the jurors only for their perplexing choices and lack of selectivity. Undoubtedly, the bonds of family history and pride are easily permeated but extremely difficult to break and criticize, causing one to wonder who exactly we are calling artistic and how liberally we should use the word.

-re-

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