All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs and Karma
Destination: Baltimore, Maryland
What goes around comes around. Maybe that’s why visitors emerge from All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs and Karma, now at the American Visionary Art Museum, feeling at peace with the world. It’s like a big hug from humanity, reminding us that life is good … for those who believe it.
The museum’s iconic whirligig, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, is on permanent display in the courtyard. All photos taken by Paul Jean with special permission.
Feel the joy the minute the Federal Hill building comes into sight – all spangly and happy and adorned with mirror shards that catch the sun’s rays and bounce them in every direction. Vollis Simpson’s three-ton whirligig beckons, and Nadya Volicer’s welcome mat coaxes a smile. Where else can you clean your feet on 1,500 toothbrushes?
The works inside have been created by ordinary people ranging from high school dropouts to accomplished attorneys – WWII veterans and conscientious objectors alike – using hubcaps, electronic parts and other stuff of life, as well as toothpicks, matchsticks, Styrofoam cups and Mardi Gras beads. Oh, and the ratty tatty bras of 18,000 donors.
The artists are often society’s scavengers – dumpster divers and hoarders – living off the grid, on the wagon or in the apartment building next door. Most aren’t formally trained, but all have answered an inner call to create. You’ll soon realize that these folks are anything but ordinary, and their art is genuine.
A biography accompanies each work. Stories are pointed and poignant, at times describing the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. In other cases, they tell of the happy conclusion to a life well lived. A bigger picture emerges and, in a sense, the entire museum is one grand work of art.
All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs and Karma is billed as the museum’s most voluptuous art exhibition to date. Its co-curators are AVAM‘s founder and director Rebecca Hoffberger and award-winning graphic designer Mary Ellen “Dolly” Vehlow.
Shawn Theron’s photo diary leads directly to the gift shop, where you may find the artist behind the cash register.
One of the first works to greet you is by Shawn Theron. Shawn shares a pivotal year in his life with 12,290 personal photos, punctuated by 52 of the trademark SOGH paintings that have been inspired by his grandmother, Red.
Thumbnail prints make the artist’s every day appear common place – birthdays, weddings, funerals – until you come to the chilling realization that Gus has had both a wedding and a funeral in 2003. Shawn’s friend and coworker was stabbed to death by his bride just a few months after the nuptials. Shawn lost Red that year, too.
Like life itself, the photo diary both warms and breaks the heart. For insight about the artist, look no further than the Sideshow, arguably the best museum gift shop on the planet. Here you’ll find Shawn behind the register much of the time, which begs the question: Is this a job, or is it performance art? No matter, Shawn is a force of nature and it’s always a great day when he’s around (pun intended).
The Sideshow sells original art, great books, vintage memories and fun novelty items, with the motto, “Come shopping, leave smiling.”
Also on the first floor, Emily Duffy’s Mama’s Milk features the aforementioned brouhaha of bras, all wound up in one big ball. Oh Say Can You See features 10 fascinating facts about eyes, along with the story of sculptor Herbert Singleton – an artist who was down but never out.
The banister of the staircase is bedazzled with bottle caps and bling, its walls featuring a favorite voyeuristic opportunity in the form of PostSecrets collected by Frank Warren. A barista’s admission that “When you’re rude to me, I make your drink decaf,” remind us to do unto others … or else.
Scott Weaver’s masterpiece, Rolling Through the Bay, is a personal tribute to San Francisco that started in the 4th grade.
Second-floor galleries include The Earth is a Blue Ball, featuring cosmic paintings by astronomer Greg Mort, and a 100,000 toothpick engineering marvel entitled Rolling through the Bay by Scott Weaver. Watch a film on Weaver’s work in the nearby Circle Theatre, and see the artist rolling ping pong balls through a nine-foot structure that defies both description and gravity.
Wendy Brackman’s Paper Plate Mandala is fine art made from the humblest of materials.
Mandala and Enso is a regular Jung Fest celebrating the inner circle of life, in juxtaposition to the Food Fest of Mario Batali’s Edible Balls. A recipe for the rotund chef’s famous spaghetti and meatballs is written on a paper plate in his own hand.
Mark Swidler uses only a pocket knife and Styrofoam cups to convey the personalities of his subjects.
Time – Cyclical, Linear or All-At-Once includes an exploration of the fast-approaching end of the Mayan calendar, and ReCYCLE: Reuse, Reinvent, Renew features Mark Swidler’s hand-carved Styrofoam cups – a creative way of heeding the New England admonition to “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Several themed rooms follow, completing an exhibit that’s over 70 visionary artists strong.
Across the courtyard in the Jim Rouse Visionary Center, the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre displays a delightful collection of interactive wooden sculptures on topics that are rather unexpected. Flogging a Dead Horse, by Paul Spooner, is a favorite for its detail and dark humor.
Winning entries from past Kinetic Sculpture Races are featured, but winner is a relative term; contestants vie for the title of Grand Mediocre East Coast Champion by trying to finish right in the middle of the pack. Vehicles are crafted of garage cast-offs and backyard junk, designed to negotiate asphalt, mud and the cold, deep waters of the Inner Harbor.
"Fifi!" is the mascot of the Kinetic Sculpture Race, where entries are 100% human-powered works of art that traverse 15 miles of asphalt, mud and the deep waters of the Inner Harbor.
Museum Founder and Director Rebecca Alban Hoffberger explains that this race is more about ingenuity and creativity than it is about competition. “Come early for the Blessing of De Feet,” Dame Rebecca advises. “And you really should bring bribes for the judges … chocolate chip cookies, or something like that. We want to teach kids how the real world works.”
Perhaps the most inspirational work in the gallery is DeVon Smith’s enchantingly humanesque World’s First Family of Robots. Smith, a WWII veteran who made his living as a junk dealer and trader, held the Guinness World Record for hitchhiking over 500,000 miles in his lifetime. He left us with simple words he lived by: “Don’t sit in a chair. Get out and do it.”
Yes, get out and do it. Hop in the car, blast up to Baltimore and spend a day at the AVAM – it really will give you a feeling of peace, love and happiness, which you can spread all over the neighborhood when you get home. Because what goes around comes around.
Members of DeVon Smith’s robot family exhibit more than a glimmer of humanity.
When you go …
- Hours from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., from Tuesday-Sunday (usually closed on Monday).
- Free admission on Monday, January 16, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
- Regular admission is $15.95 for adults, $9.95 for children and students.
- Abundant metered parking is available on Covington Street and Key Highway.
- “All Things Round” runs through September 2, 2012.
Gregory Warmack, a.k.a. Mr. Imagination, has donated his throne to the American Visionary Art Museum’s permanent collection.
Story copyright 2012, Elaine C. Jean. All rights reserved.
Photos copyright 2012, Paul N. Jean. All rights reserved.
