Art & Authenticy

During my trip to The American Folk Art Museum I was most inspired by the Approaching Abstraction exhibit. The exhibit can be termed as unique, strange and even eccentric by some as it showcases models that are made up from materials like straws, graph paper, mismatched buttons and even plastic wonder bread bags. The exhibits truly encompass the theme of “making something from nothing”. The exhibit titles as The Button Tree by Gregory ‘Mr. Imagination” Warmack has the framework of an actual tree that was cut down and was rescued by Mr. Gregory from the streets. As a mark of silent protest against the uprooting of trees Gregory created this art piece in which bottle caps and buttons of different shapes and sizes are nailed to every part of the tree. Through his art Gregory is “willing the dead tree to linger in life still, now as a work of art”. Such is the inspiration behind many of the art pieces in this exhibit. The imaginative and creative represent much more than a pretty or aesthetic picture. They all have an underlying deeper meaning that express the artist’s personal experiences and beliefs.