How many times have Therese and I (and our friend Faith) been to the American Visionary Art Museum at this point? I have lost count. Four? Five? something like that. But the better answer is: not so many times that whenever we have a chance to go again we aren’t going to jump at the chance. Wait, that is rather negative. Let’s just say, any chance we get, we will happily go there again.
Why? Well, you can start with the name of the museum. In other spheres, art that comes from sources outside the mainstream, or outside of the academically approved circles, is called “primitive” or “outsider art.” And I am sure there are other ways to describe what is really a catch-all of everybody who creates art who didn’t go to art school, or whatever – terms that might be insulting, or at least demeaning to the artists. But the folks who started this museum came up with that brilliant title: visionary. That, in my opinion, ennobles the artists, whatever their circumstances.
Next, there is a real sense of humor about lots of the art here, a playfulness and experimentation that is often missing when you see mainstream art displayed in monumental art museums. And there’s often a directness as well – at AVAM, I don’t find myself thinking, “hmmm, what does this mean?” Which isn’t to say that there can’t be things here that aren’t layered and deep and profound. But most things are approachable at AVAM. Take the painting I posted above, “La Madonna delle Lacrime” by Adrian Kellard. It’s dazzling and so fun, but, as hinted by the title, there is also emotion connected to it, heaviness even. And if you learn a bit about Mr. Kellard’s short life, dying of AIDS at only 32, then you might feel even more of a sense of gravity to the work. Ultimately, it comes back for me to the first impression of the work, a celebration of the artist and his re-imagining of the religious images that must have had a great impression on his life.
Oh, and one other thing about AVAM that I truly love: the gift shop. It’s called “Sideshow,” like the act in the carnival where all the odd things go, that don’t fit anywhere else. And it is the most amazing gift shop. It is filled with so many wonderful things – gift bags, reading eyeglasses, trinkets of every description, books of course, and even some small artworks created by artists whose larger works have been shown at AVAM. Even if you didn’t want to visit the museum, I would recommend seeing the gift shop. It is that wonderful.
When we planned to go to Maryland and visit with Faith for the July Fourth weekend, we had lots of ideas about that time. It would be a time to see family, and eat crabcakes (or at least seafood), and enjoy the area Therese grew up in, and where Faith still lives. But when I had a chance to influence the itinerary, my first thought was to go to AVAM. No one pushed back about that, which shows that all three of us enjoy the museum so much. We loved it once again this time. And we will go back again, I am sure. We all need more visionary things in our lives!
The post American Visionary Art Museum Never Fails to Dazzle appeared first on The Dairy Free Traveler.