Mushroom Cubes and such
I cannot say that the Chelsea neighborhood is new to me. As a former canvasser for the Environmental Protection Agency, I even worked there for a little while this summer. I have known for a while about the multitudes of galleries that adorn these streets. Unfortunately, instead of taking advantage of this art scene, I would only add it to my list of things to be done when time permitted. I am grateful for last Wednesday’s opportunity, for this inspired me to continue exploring Chelsea’s art coves on my own.
I am not a particular fan of contemporary art although I am always interested in the new styles and genres explored, especially the styles they are executed in. Since I draw and sculpt myself, I like to know what other people are doing in the art world. People are often hesitant to give contemporary art a chance because it more understanding and tolerance. I am no different because when I see a form of art that I have not been exposed to, I make rash judgments about whether I like it or not. I think I subconsciously wish the art to relate to my own life and if it does not, I regard it as useless or unnecessary. Realizing this about myself was part of my experience at Chelsea. It occurred to me that if I like Andy Warhol and Miro, who were contemporary artists of their time, I should be less critical of those artists who are in ours.
Out of the six galleries I visited, I was thrilled and inspired by only one, which is still a success, considering that there are about 266 galleries in the Chelsea area. This was the Keith Tyson Exhibit, Large Field Array, which included many different genres of art and style. To be honest, it is difficult to even start discussing this exhibition, due to the fact that every several feet, walls included, were covered in artwork, most of it taking the shape of cubes. The styles of each piece were so different that I was surprised to find that the work was all by the same artist. Incredibly enough, the entire collection only took Tyson several years to create. I spent over an hour in the gallery and even then, my glance fell upon something new to examine and be awed by.
There was a particularly interesting piece that portrayed the building blocks of organic matter, including the person and right up to the electrons spinning in their orbits. Every one of these pieces, like each piece in the gallery correlated to another by means of style, theme, or material. Nevertheless, the piece that caught my attention was the Mushroom Cube, roughly placed in the middle of the showroom floor. It brought surges of nostalgia, for I am from St. Petersburg and late August until early September is mushroom season, when the forests are filled with colorful, aromatic mushrooms of different sorts. I rarely see mushrooms other than champignons in New York, and when I do they seem to be withered and dry because they have been laying around in the supermarket for too long. The mushroom cube was incredibly real looking. Every detail on each mushroom was intricately molded and painted, I could smell my grandmother peeling them in our kitchen.
All but two type of the depicted mushrooms were poisonous. I wondered whether Tyson purposely did this or if he grouped the mushrooms together by color to avoid a visual cacophony. If he wanted a typical forest array of mushrooms in the early fall season, it is strange that he omitted some of the largest and tastiest mushrooms. The cube also had moss surrounding some of the mushrooms. Synthetic materials were used to create this piece but they are not meant to suggest anything about themselves, instead they are used to recreate the exact form and texture of the mushrooms. Mushrooms have significant meaning to me and I was surprised that someone else was just as fond of fungus.