I mentioned that last weekend we went downtown for the new show at AVAM — Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness
October 3, 2009 – September 5, 2010

“The quest for human rights and the search for personal fulfillment, as proposed in the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, provide the starting point for this international exhibition. Works by the last surviving descendant of the Tsars of Russia, Iroquois Indians, French Revolutionaries, illegal immigrants, Algerian War veterans, Guantanamo Bay detainees, Holocaust survivors, incarcerated prisoners, African-American civil rights activists and Iraqi doctors are among the 86 visionary artists to be featured.”

It was, as usual, a joy.  Many emotional and touching pieces. Explorations of freedom– what it means, and what images it conjures for each of the artists. The artist who was the last surviving descendant of the Russian Tsars chronicled his adventures on shrinky dinks. Two of my two absolute favorite encounters of the day were related more to the freedom we have to be outrageously creative, even to create our own world and reality.

First, the incredible genius  (in miniature, no less) that is Richard McMahan.  (A great site on him.)

Here’s from the Raleigh City Paper–

McMahan’s Mini Museum exhibition features over 1,300 miniature paintings that are replicas of the world’s finest art, some of which now reside on canvases no larger than a postage stamp. Miniscule Egyptian tombs, cave drawings, and handmade furniture are included as well.

McMahan is a resourceful artist. Most of his collected paintings have been copied from photographs taken for National Geographic. So while he may not have gone far to see them, the paintings, and by extension McMahan’s work, represent the creative process and all its varied journeys. Examined from this angle, McMahan’s work is extensive not only in its scope, but also by way of its impact.

Take for example the work of Pablo Picasso. National Geographic decided to write a story about his work. A journalist and cameraman were dispatched. When the piece went to print, it traveled to homes across the United States. One of the magazines wound up in Richard McMahan’s hands (He owns every single issue of National Geographic from 1939 to the present). McMahan was captivated; he read the story and studied the photographs. He took his brush and did his best to recreate the artwork. He completed his rendition and kept it in his home. This process was repeated hundreds of times for various painters.

I am not sure how many pieces AVAM actually had in the display… there was a WALL of them… A sampling that gives a taste of R.M.’s talent and single minded focus to represent for himself and others these pieces of work which he feels are important/noteworthy.  It wasn’t just the sheer presence of so much TINY ART, which was enough to make me twitch with glee… It was the obvious and obsessive care and craftsmanship that went in to this collection.  His tiny reproductions are pretty fanatical in their quality and accuracy.   I loved this comment made by him on another blog which made the statement “McMahan’s sculpture work (the “twigs” in the second image are carved pieces of wood) is wonderfully exact.”  (Here is the borrowed image as I could not find another.)

The artist himself responded–

Richard W.McMahan said…

Hi there to everyone in cyber~space who have questions about my show I just want to give a clarification on a comment made on this blog about one of the paintings in my show,the question was asked about the twigs in one of the works at the mini museum show,Well those are not carved,they are tree roots that I found in my back yard,I had to find some that were small enough for the project,I usually make everything from scratch because I make everything from paper & cardboard as well as other things before they go into the trash,the artist who did the work in question used real twigs & other found objects for his work so that’s what they are,I hope you will enjoy the show even more after knowing this bit of information because I get a lot of questions about what everything is made from.

Love.

Remember  that AVAM shows art  by “outsiders”, folks who are untrained formally but chock full of  the muse, determination and indomitable creative spirit.  He hand-makes the frames / display after the ones of the original pieces as well.   Painstakingly Glorious.

My only complaint was that there were maybe 2- 3 shelves of them that were way above eye level.  So,  while one definitely got to appreciate the prolific scope and amazement of the mini-museum,  I wanted to really look at them.  I read that at another show they displayed his artwork with magnifying glasses.  That would have been really appreciated.  It’s really just crazy-beautiful.  Here is a nice little documentary on Mr. McMahan.

Second on the wow-o-meter was  New Jersey-born illustrator Renaldo Kuhler, who created an imaginary country universe called Rocaterrania, somewhere between the border of New York and Canada.  He created it’s entirety –it’s past and present, culture, society, language, alphabet…

“Fantasy is like fruit and desert, and reality is like meat and potatoes and green beans, or beef stew.  Something like that…”

These two pieces are not really representative of the bulk of his work shown…. The details of this invented and imagined culture are stupefying.  Journals that depict the gorgeous hand-drawn alphabet, sketches of street lamps and ornamentation on the buildings, a re-creation of his desk and part of his work area…. There was a wonderful drawing of the Rocaterrania Sewage Treatment Plant which was exquisitely “prettied up” to make beautiful the messy business thereof.

There is also a documentary on Mr. Kuhler which they were showing as part of the exhibit and which could be purchased a the museum store.

He spent most of his working life at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, making painstaking portraits of various animal species, though he was primarily a self-taught artist.  He claimed that art-school was a disaster for him as a younger man and that he learned more about drawing “by talking to an art teacher in a barroom.”   Amen.  Also, “I would prefer to be known more for my scientific drawings than my imaginary country,” he says, “but I don’t have any objection. Either way is fine.”

Indeed.  I recommend that you should stop by and “meet” his work if you are local.  I loved the new show and our family will certainly return–  I could spend another few hours just exploring the work there of these 2 artists.