The exhibition in the Fort Collins Museum of Art is the final part of a bit community art project. The works are designed by ‘both professional artists, student artists and more casual artists whose daily endeavors are directed elsewhere’ (FTCMA.org). 200 ceramic forms of masks left museum completely blank and were returned as individual work of art that is now a part of exhibition and action. The community aspect in this project is extremely valuable, as the Museum is not just raising the money but encouraging and promoting art and young artists. Masks are often associated with the tribal art and culture, so the community transforms itself into a sort of contemporary tribe, it connects people by the means of drawing all the different art periods and approaches into one project.
The theme of masks was chosen due to the work of mask artist Bob Coonts, who was greatly inspired by painting and masks and have been working with them for 10 years already. He describes working with masks like doing a painted sculpture, as he doesn’t stay within the ceramic form but extends the work to something bigger, that is also the way a lot of the participants of the project did it using a range of different materials.
The work that attracted my attention the most is the mask by Anne Aspen featuring Wonderwoman. First of all, it is not just a mask of Wonderwoman, though it is definitely the main focus here, as the face of Wonderwoman is put directly on the mask, so it is volumetric, while the face of other woman in the background is flat. The surprising fact is that the subject from the mass culture is being transferred on the mask and in the same time it does not diminishes the work to the level of Halloween costume mask of the superhero. On the contrary it combines the essence of the mask with the feminist discourse, the direct comparison with superman and the call to ‘cover up’ bring to mind the questions about how the image of Wonderwoman influences feminist art today (Aspen).
As the work refers to the age of Pop art and the time of the upmost popularity of comic book art, it reminds the works of Roy Lichtenstein, who is most famous by his works associated with comics, and seems to be quite fruitful comparison. He is regarded as on the the greatest artists in Pop Art movement alongside Andy Warhol with whom he worked in the 60’s. For example, his famous work Girl with Hair Ribbon although does not have any remarks on it still renders some plot involving the girl portrayed as pure femininity, her look is the look of longing or sorrow, maybe even fear (Roylichtenstein.com). The image of the women on the mask-work is completely different, although the face is a little bit destroyed it is not there to depict weak or scared feminine character, far from it, the image of Wonderwoman is strong and confident. Most importantly, it is still a mask, every woman sometimes puts on a mask like that to feel stronger and more powerful, to feel a superhero while being under pressure of society that can whisper to her ear ‘you’ll never amount to anythingface it’ (Aspen).
Works cited
Aspen, Anne. Mask. 2016. Fort Collins Museum Of Art, Fort Collins.
<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hvawmmuec8flfwq/AAARuwGwTsDObC-qJ_hxIA1Ta?dl=0&preview=Aspen%2C+Anne.png>
"Exhibitions - Fort Collins Museum Of Art, Inc.". Fort Collins Museum of Art, Inc.. N.p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
"Girl With Hair Ribbon By Roy Lichtenstein". Roylichtenstein.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
