Art I'm Seeing #48

Art can be understood in so many ways. Broadly defined it still most likely fits objects found in traditional museums and picture frames that hang on our walls. While both of these expectations are true and reasonable, neither begins to encompass the definition of art that is to be found at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. And honestly, you'd be hard pressed to discover another museum like it in the world. Yes, that's what I said, THE WORLD.

From the moment you set foot on it's three building campus, you pretty much realize that you're in for a unique experience. And you won't be disappointed.

As the poster says: you're about to see some "Fantastic Art." It's art that the art establishment of traditional museums by and large has little interest in. It's art created by people who are driven to be creative both in spite of and because of their worst demons and their better angles. It's art that comes from a place in the human soul that obsesses, the human psyche that believes, and the human heart that desires.

The current special exhibition is entitled, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Each year the museum chooses a theme and curates a major exhibition around various aspects of that theme. The blurb about this exhibition from the AVAM website really best describes this year's special exhibition: "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."

I found the simple drawings a Yemeni prisoner held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be the most profoundly moving. The were simple geometric drawings with floral patterns. Around the edges were the crossed out red ink stamp prints that read "Top Secret". The man drew them as gifts to his lawyers for helping him seek his freedom.

Besides the special exhibition, there are several works from the relatively humble yet amazing permanent collection on display. The most well known of which is this model of the USS Lusitania made entirely of tooth picks....thousands and thousands of toothpicks. The artist is Chicagoan, Wayne Kusy and he made this in his apartment between 1993 and 1994. It really is a wonder to behold.

Besides the special exhibition and permanent collection, there are also single room or unique artist exhibitions. And for me, the centenary celebration of the paintings of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein was the standout event of my visit. Born in 1910, the bulk of the works presented here were created in the 1950's. They are paintings that suggest imagery, and made with tremendous technical prowess via the application of and then manipulation of paint upon a surface. They are simply amazing and like nothing I would have ever imagined were made in the 1950's.

My friend and I ended our visit with lunch at the re-opened top floor restaurant "Mr. Rain's Fun House". We shared an appetizer of Pho noodles with pheasant sausage. She had the Lamb burger with mint-mayo, and I went for the pulled pork sandwich. We both chose the mildly spicy side of Asian slaw. With tap water and ice teas the bill came to $35.

Once an amazing place from which to enjoy the inner harbor, the vista is now restricted by a phalanx of upscale condos, so the best view is that of Federal Hill itself.
And there is also the amazing Giant WhirliGig sculpture by Vollis Simpson to marvel at.

There are so many things to see when visiting Baltimore, but none of them is as completely unique as the American Visionary Art Museum.