Beauty as Refuge

By Suzanne Révy

Annual juried shows are often a visual cacophony of disparate ideas, content and themes. Gallerist Arnika Dawkins has overcome those challenges to create a cohesive and visually satisfying show for the Griffin Museum’s 27th Annual Juried Exhibition by adhering to the theme, Beauty as Refuge. This annual member’s show has been expertly sequenced into broadly related themes throughout the gallery, and installed by the Griffin to maximize the meditative benefits for visitors. Two solo shows accompany the juried exhibition: Stefanie Timmermann’s Blue Morph and Vicky Stromee’s Envisioning Solitude, all on view through August 29th, 2021. 

“An Offering” 2020, by Tokie Taylor courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“The Girl in the Red Coat” 2020, by Dale Niles, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Part of You” 2018, by Olga Merrill courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Dreamy” 2014, by Pippi Ellison, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

The gallery opens with a resplendent portrait of a young girl by Tokie Taylor which sets the mood for contemplation. Taylor employs artifacts that connect the history and rituals of the cultural African diaspora to a potential future. Her layered image is in direct dialog with a selection of complex portraits: The Girl in the Red Coat by Dale Niles recalls Baroque painting; Olga Merrill’s Part of You and Pippi Ellison’s Dreamy bring Frederick Sommer’s surrealism to mind.  Dawkins’ selections have been organized visually and thematically, fostering a natural rhythm from portraiture, to landscape, still life, architecture, collage and documentary moments. 

“Looking Back” by Nina Weinberg Doran, (installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

“Through the Mist” 2020, by Donna Tramontozzi, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Wall of Windows” by Steve Edson, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Time Timing” by Leslie Jean-Bart, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Looking for You” 2019 by Julia Vandenoever, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Volando Alto” 2013 by Eleonora Ronconi, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Images where solitude is palpable as in Nine Weinberg Doran’s Looking Back or Donna Tramantozzi’s curious Through the Mist and Steve Edson’s silhouetted figure in Wall of Windows are presented with Leslie Jean-Bart’s dynamic motion study, an architectural picture of a simple curtained window by Julia Vandenoever and Eleonora Ronconi’s colorful chair swing ride in Volando Alto. Taken together, the pictures emphasize psychological interiority among the discord of contemporary environments.

“Ritzville Home” 2018 by Skip Smith, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Room 05” 2017 by Teresa Kruszewski, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Ernest Hemingway House, Key West, Florida” 2020 by Lake Newton, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Architectural spaces offer visual breaks throughout the show, including Skip Smith’s tiny gem Ritzville Home, Teresa Kruszewski’s luminescent Room 5 and Lake Newton’s softly muted study of a sink in the Ernest Hemingway house. These works suggest unknown histories and narratives of each place, inviting viewers to wonder what secrets the walls might reveal if they could talk. 

“Sara’s Flower Blue” 2021 by Carol Eisenberg, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Untitled, 1567” 2020 by Torrance York from the Semaphore Project, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Remembrance 4” 2019 by Xuan-Hui Ng, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Pink and green hues guide visitors through a selection of nature and still-life impressions that bring a sense of calm: Carol Eisenberg’s seemingly solarized Sara’s Flower Blue, Torrance York’s sublime composition of pink blossoms in their infancy and Xuan-Hui Ng’s Remembrance 4 of fallen spring petals floating in water. Saturated greens in Lisa Mossel Vietze’s Deco, Callie McCaw’s still life, and JP Terlizzi’s Common Thread bring a richness to the tapestry of this gratifying exhibition and welcome refuge.

“Deco” 2019 by Lisa Mossel-Vietze, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Saint Michael Fighting the Dragon, from The Dürer Botanical” 2020 by Callie McCaw, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Common Thread” 2020 by JP Terlizzi, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Youth” 2019 by Stefanie Timmermann, from the series Blue Morphs, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Two accompanying solo shows at the Griffin Museum contemplate transformation. Inspired by the Blue Morpho butterfly, Stefanie Timmermann’s Blue Morphs are layered cyanotypes that recall cellular structures which morph into and out of abstraction and figuration. In a different form of fusion, Vicky Stromee employs the moon in Envisioning Solitude, bringing both inner and outer space into a concert of serene reverie through layered elements. 

“Snow Moon” by Vicky Stromee from the series Envisioning Solitude, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

For more information about these exhibits, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/exhibitions/