Art Hag

I almost missed Emilie Clark's exhibit, Maxwell's Lair, at Morgan Lehman Gallery. I walked passed the gallery several times in the past couple of months, but the pile of old, stuffed animals in the front window looked too twee and/or ironic for me, so I kept walking. Fortunately, a friend of mine convinced me to check out the show last Friday, the day before it closed, telling me if I could get past the plush menagerie, I'd find some rich, lovely, interesting paintings.

The San Francisco-born/New York-based Clark is often inspired by 19th-century, American, women naturalists. She's previously based installations on the works of Mary Ward (1827-1869), the first woman to write a treatise on the microscope, and Mary Treat (1830-1923), an expert on carnivorous plants (information taken from the exhibit's press release and the artist's website). The title of Clark's current exhibit, Maxwell's Lair, is based on Martha Maxwell (1831-1881), who possessed "at the time the largest collection of taxidermy in the US," and "killed and prepared most of the animals in her collection while living in Colorado in the 1870s..." Maxwell displayed her animals in naturalistic settings and/or dioramas first in "a museum of taxidermy and natural historical curiosities in Boulder" which she established, "and later representing the state of Colorado in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia" (from the artist's website). In reference to Maxwell's living in a "faux cave inside her own exhibit" during the Centennial Exhibition, Clark "created a small cave made of modified and dissected stuffed animals" (from the press release) which the artist says she collects from "lost and found bins, yard sales, community thrift stores and Craig’s List."

While the stuffed animal installation might be a nice tribute to Martha Maxwell, Clark's paintings are the real standouts in the show. Her paintings "are derived from stuffed-animal hybrid sculptures she constructs, in addition to close observation of actual specimens—living, taxidermied and pickled" (from the press release). Clark uses lush color palettes and combines scientific and abstract styles to depict mysterious scenes on her canvases. Flora and fauna collide creating both serene and dynamic works. "Dissected carcasses, portions of animal parts, and patterns move in and out of each other, creating an abstracted community of death and regeneration."

I wish I had gone into Morgan Lehman on one of those earlier occasions when I unwittingly walked past the gallery. I would have liked to have posted about Emilie Clark and Maxwell's Lair before the show closed. Sorry, my mistake! Learn more at Morganlehmangallery.com. Check out the artist's website at Emilieclark.com. Closed December 5th.

Untitled (MM-54), 2009