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WESTFIELD — At 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15, Westfield Athenaeum Executive Director Guy McLain will give a lecture on the library’s latest art exhibit, “Exuberant Expressionism: Trends in 21st Century Visual Art.”
He will discuss the two artists on display — Easthampton native Ruth Kjaer and Westfield native Marie Crane-Yvon — as well as present a slideshow on the historical artists that paved the way for their work. He hopes the lecture will help people understand modern art better.
“These two artists really give anyone coming into the exhibit a real idea of the two most significant trends in art in the 2020s,” McLain said.
“Exuberant Expressionism: Trends in 21st Century Visual Art” is on display at the Jasper Rand Art Gallery in the Athenaeum, 6 Elm St., through Aug. 17. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Maximalism
Kjaer’s work, McLain said, represents the current wave of “maximalist” art based on 1950s abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock. Her work, he said, is “painterly,” showing figures surrounded by brush strokes, drips and splatters.
Kjaer said her work focuses on a female figure that is either “prone” and “beaten down” or dominant.
“There’s always a looming male figure in the background, but I don’t want that to be the main focus,” she said. “I want it as kind of a looming darkness that she has to overcome.”
The Athenaeum pieces come from her “Golden Rain” series. It is based on the Greek myth of Danae and the Golden Rain, where Danae’s father imprisons her to prevent her from having a child an oracle said would kill him. The paintings are commentary on a patriarchal society that takes away women’s agency, Kjaer said.
“It’s a male-dominated society that we have, so I wanted to bring my art into how women deal with this,” she said.
McLain also described Kjaer’s work as “atemporal,” drawing from many different time periods, instead of following one dominating trend.
Kjaer said her idols were Joan Mitchell, Grace Hartigan and Helen Frankenthaler. They taught her, she said, that women have a place in art.
Kjaer said she wanted people to see that the Greek myths she depicted still apply to the modern world.
“It should not be a male-dominated culture,” she said. “Women need to be heard and they need their own place in the world.”
Abstract minimalism
Crane-Yvon’s work, McLain said, represents the trend of “abstract minimalist” style, in which artists paint “large fields of color,” sometimes with a natural landscape peeking through.
Crane-Yvon’s website lists Frankenthaler and Mitchell as influences, as well as Morris Louis. Westfield itself has also been an influence for her; she graduated with an art degree from Westfield State University and said her connections in the Pioneer Valley support her work.
The pieces at the Athenaeum were inspired by her family and friends.
“I try to articulate relationships through my artwork, whether in the physical sense or in the spiritual sense,” she said.
They include a 48- by 60-inch abstract portrait of her family, along with some newer work and some favorites of hers. One painting, she said, was purchased by her husband at an auction and has hung in her home since.
“The way my husband values my work is such a gift to my creativity,” she said. “To have that painting with the painting of my family, they mean the world to me.”
Crane-Yvon said she tries to depict “emotion, depth, and connections.” She hopes people take away some of that emotion.
“I would just ask people to spend longer than they usually would in front of a painting to gather some of that emotion that the artist is trying to give,” she said.
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