Anger gets a bad rep. Sure, when displaced, it can be both self-destructive in its inward presence and hurtful when turned outward. But that's life. Anger is one of man's most primal and instinctive emotions.
Anger is also dynamic, offering a number of subjective, unexpected actions and reactions. With a spectrum like that, what better place for it than a painter's canvas.
That is what (SCENE) Metrospace curator Peter Richards said he was thinking when he opened the gallery doors to "Anger: the Best Medicine," an exhibit used to artistically explore the idea and understanding of our own, very real emotion.
The exhibit, which opened to the public on Friday, presents an abstract journey to the core of anger, as well as its ultimate results and effects on concepts like family, society and conflict.
While meandering through the ornate, brilliant, convoluted and often unsettling exhibit, The State News got a chance to talk about artwork with Richards, the gallery curator.
The State News: So what is "Anger" all about?
Richards: It's an approach to anger that's not like ranting and raving or attacks or anything. It seems like the artists have taken it in more of the direction of process — like how you process your anger — so it's ended up being really colorful and dynamic and kind of unexpected. I think people get images in their heads when they hear about an anger show. This one is not very threatening — it's not very dark. There's definitely some raw emotions at play here, but it's not off-putting really; it accepts it as a natural emotion.
Where did you get the idea for an anger show?
This one hatched out of some stories that the previous director was telling me about — just dealing with artists who would be upset over not being included in shows and things like that. So I thought, every artist has that in them — what do they do with it?
What are the kinds of pieces you have for the exhibit?
There is painting, there's sculpture, and there are some video installations. There is some site-specific stuff where we allow them to draw on the walls and things like that. There's a lot of different pieces, and the great majority of artists in this show are local.
There are six rooms and some kind of alternative spaces we use, like the stairways and things like that. In one room, we have a heater blowing hot air at you and a light shinning in your eyes with a crazy video loop that keeps getting weirder and weirder. We have a lot of signals that make the space sort of uncomfortable and weird.
The price range is all the way from $35 for some of the smaller pieces to a sculpture we have for about $2000. So you can take something home for under $50. Or you can take out a mortgage and get a piece that way too.
Do you think this kind of exhibit is something that is unique to the (SCENE) Metrospace gallery in general?
There are a lot of outlets for traditional art locally that are established and great. But we are kind of taking a different approach; we're taking the weird art or the more offbeat, more avant-garde type of stuff.
So what would you say to critics who might label this as garbage art or something else negative?
Look again. You know, so far people have been really excited about (the art) because it is different. I think if it was a bunch of cracked mirrors and gritted teeth, it would be off-putting, but this engages people — it brings them in. It's like a look into how this person is processing this emotion.
We always try to medicate anger out of our lives or be artificially happy, and not enough people engage it and deal with it for what it is. It's frustration. It's not being able to control your own environment or the people around you. I think that there are many unique perspectives in this show, and it's really good to spend some time with the pieces.
