By Marguerite Curran, Muskegon Museum of Art
The Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) opens two new exhibitions, Sarah Wagner: Vegetable Lamb of America and Southern Roots: The Paintings of Winfred Rembert, on Thursday, Dec. 14. The MMA invites the public to an opening reception and a talk by artist Sarah Wagner that evening. The reception will run 5:30-7 pm and Wagner’s talk will begin at 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
The exhibitions examine, in various ways, the influence of cotton upon history, economics and the environment.
Sarah Wagner: Vegetable Lamb of America
Sarah Wagner sculpts in wood, metal and fabric, creating animals and environments that address the fragility and resilience of Nature and humanity’s impact on its surroundings. Her art is inspired and informed by the City of Detroit, where she lives and works. For her MMA exhibition, Wagner is creating a new installation of capitalism and industrialism around the world.
Southern Roots: The Paintings of Winfred Rembert
Winfred Rembert works in the medium of carved and dyed leather, creating vibrant and rhythmic imagery of his life in 1950s Georgia. A storyteller, Rembert reveals images of culture, community, family and struggle through intense color and repeating patterns. His most recognizable pieces depict pickers at work in the cotton fields, a grueling task the artist himself experienced in his childhood and later on a prison chain gang. Over 25 works, including the premiere of several recent paintings by the artist, are featured in the exhibition.
The MMA will present a screening of the documentary about Rembert’s life, All Me: The Life and Times of Winfred Rembert, following a special reception on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. The reception will start at 5:30 pm and the film will start at 7 pm. Rembert has a lot of stories to tell, from his childhood on a cotton farm to his near lynching during the Civil Rights Movement; his life experiences are the bed of work that inspires his artwork. This film documents Rembert’s life and how his tooled leather artwork has become his biography and therapy. The film was directed by Vivan Ducat of Ducat Media. She and Rembert will be at the screening, followed by a Q&A with the artist.
The Muskegon Museum of Art is located next to Hackley Public Library in downtown Muskegon. Call 231.720.2570 or go here for visitor information.
