MECA spokesperson Jessica Tomlinson says the show’s cohesiveness is a testament to the talent of the exhibition space’s staff and the students enrolled in the college’s new curatorial studies program. Together they have crafted a compelling show full of surprises and filled with abundant treasures from Maine’s contemporary art scene.
The show is split into two parts. The first two rooms and the hallway contain works that can be bid on using the silent auction forms tacked beside them. While all the pieces in the far gallery space will be auctioned live during the swanky party taking place Nov. 9.
A monoprint by Ken Kraft titled “Carnivale” brings together 16 blocks of color into a pleasing geometric composition. This contrasts nicely with the nearby “Motion in a Central Field,” by Kara Taylor, which is a work mixing photography, oils and encaustic into a dreamy collage-scape.
Nearby, another interesting pairing comes in the form of the huge work “The Silence at the End of the World,” by Peyton Higgison, and the diminutive piece “Canoe Carry,” by Katherine Bradford. Both work well together, through composition style and color choices, even though the subject matter and brushwork differ.
In a grouping of photography, an archival pigment print by Mary Woodman titled “9:38 Stop” gives a ghostly view of the familiar Time & Temp Building. While a more abstract interior composition “F. Holland Day’s Home, Georgetown Maine,” by Judith Ellis Glickman (whose impressive photographic collection is on view at the Portland Museum of Art) provides a selected and not easily identifiable view.
The contrast comes not so much with style or medium but closely related subjects in “Black Point 2,” by Caren-Marie Michel, which depicts a coastal landscape, and “Wet Day at Crystal Lake,” by Eric Glass, showing an inland watery landscape on a rain-soaked day.
The auction usually raises about $100,000, and all proceeds from the event support the college’s scholarship fund. Tickets to the auction cost $30 in advance and $40 the day of.
“It’s fun because there are always surprises of what it’s valued at versus what it goes for,” Tomlinson says.
Pointing to the Nicole Duennebier piece “Perpetuum Flea Circus,” Tomlinson recalls last year’s auction when one of Duennebier’s works, valued at $700, soared well above $2,000 in the live auction.
So view the show and then head to the auction, where you’ll need to bring your checkbook and a sexy style. Because in dress-down Portland, this is one event where people dress up. Must be the influence of all the high-class art.