Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center

Juror:  Andrew Wodzianski, Professor of Art, College of Southern Maryland

Annmarie After Hours Opening - Friday, Oct. 14, 6-9pm

We all hold fond memories of beloved toys that yielded hours of entertainment and joy, toys that we treasured and kept years beyond our childhood.  For these reasons and more, toys can be a powerful art medium, conjuring up a myriad of memories of childhood, past friendships, and other recollections.  From the utterly outrageous to the sappy and sentimental, the exhibit includes works that are created from toys, inspired by toys, or are toys themselves.  With the holidays in mind, Annmarie invites guests of all ages to immerse themselves in the playful spirit that these artists have evoked!

To DOWNLOAD a copy of Juror Statement & Price List, CLICK here!

 
Eve Hoyt, Toys I Loved                      Merri Ellen Kase, Tomato, Tomatto - Potato, Potatto                               
 
Juror Statement - Andrew Wodzianski

The artists in this exhibit are breathing time machines.  While their chronological age may be mature, their artworks’ envelopment of toy iconography suggests an age much younger.  Yet, these toy images are not immature.  Instead, they reflect the skill set of an artist, the imagination of a child, and the perspective of a time traveler.  This ability to shift time in particular is nothing short of kung-fu grip awesome.

Experiences in childhood leave lasting impressions.  While many early experiences are traumatic, others are resplendent with joy.  Happiness associated with familial nurture, delight revealed with confectionaries, and specifically for this group – enchantment discovered with toys.  Adult access to these memories can often be challenging.  The grown-up world of responsibility can quickly obscure recollections of play.  But these artists adeptly preserve that journey from youth.  For them, it is not a one way path. While pulling from a reservoir of nostalgia, they also embrace their present.   Powerful and fantastic toy images of gender, sport, warfare, or the future influence their practice.  But these bits of plastic, metal and wood once marketed as tools for socialization, role modeling, or stewardship are now totems for metaphor and allegory.  The results are sometimes provocative, sometimes challenging, and sometimes just pure whimsy.

This exhibit cradles an adults’ mastery of craftsmanship with a child’s sensibility of play.  They keep one foot in the studio, and the other in the sandbox.  Meanwhile, they’ve left their watch on the kitchen counter and mom keeps calling them for dinner.  Pablo Picasso said, ““Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”  These artists have uniquely answered his query.

 
Richard Moore, Carnival Pull Toy                          Matthew Olson, Whirl-Y-Bird

 
Evelyn Davis, Real Estate Housing Market                  Jennifer Hecker, Mother Barbie 2