For Immediate Release
July 10, 2003
Contact: Brent Sverdloff 781/259-3628, bsverdloff@decordova.org
Sarah Smith 781/259-3663, ssmith@decordova.org
Puppets, Ghosts, and Zombies: The Sculpture of Pat Keck
Joyce and Edward Linde Gallery, Arcade Gallery, Window Gallery
September 13, 2003 - January 18, 2004
Opening Reception: Friday, September 19, 6 - 8 pm
LINCOLN, MA-This one-person retrospective exhibition features over fifty works by one of America's most fascinating yet under-recognized sculptors. Since the late 1970s, Pat Keck (from Andover, Massachusetts) has created painted wood figurative sculptures, many of them mechanical and interactive. Puppets, Ghosts, and Zombies: The Sculpture of Pat Keck also includes related prints and preparatory drawings for the sculptures, and an extensive educational display that reveals Keck's artistic process.
Pat Keck's characteristic style is based on an idiosyncratic abstraction of the human face and figure: frontal and symmetrical, with highly finished and brightly-colored surfaces, and an anatomical articulation more mechanical than organic. The figures are gorgeously crafted, and each detail-from the wood joinery to the clothing to the moving parts-is designed and fabricated by the artist herself.
This stylistic formula is used to create beings that exist on the edge of humanity and consciousness: mechanical and utilitarian figures like scarecrows, dummies, toys, puppets, robots, and automatons; semi-sentient figures like somnambulists, ghosts, and monsters; and a host of androgynous "men" engaged in quasi-ritualistic and mysterious activities. Keck's imaginative world is influenced by many sources that point roughly in the same direction. She is interested in folk and vernacular arts, especially those associated with carnivals, fairs, and the circus, as well as visual elements of other performing arts, most notably vaudeville and popular music of the 1970s and 1980s (Glam Rock, Punk, and New Wave Music).
Keck's art, on a conceptual level, grapples with important philosophical and psychological issues that continue to perplex us: control and manipulation vs. free will and predestination, the relationship of the conscious to the subconscious mind, and the mysteries of life, self-awareness, sleep, and ultimately, death. These fears are leavened with humor, while intensified with experiential strategies derived from theater. Keck's work-especially the mechanical sculptures-involves anticipation, confrontation, surprise, spectacle, and the direct participation of viewers to make the figures "come alive."
Puppets, Ghosts, and Zombies: The Sculpture of Pat Keck is organized by DeCordova Curator Nick Capasso, and is accompanied by a full-color exhibition catalogue. This exhibition is funded in part by Merrill Lynch Private Client Office, Andover, MA.
Additionally, the following events and educational programming are being organized in conjunction with this exhibition:
Totems & Talismans Family Day
Sunday, September 14, 2003
1 - 4 pm
Museum Galleries
After viewing the fantastical artwork in Ghosts, Puppets, and Zombies: The Sculpture of Pat Keck, indulge your own creativity, and take part in an interactive DeCordova Family Day. Create your own eerie masks or fanciful drawings of totems and masks inspired by Keck's exhibition and the multi-media black light performance by ArcheDream (www.ArcheDream.com).
Incorporating dance, theatre, music, and masks, ArcheDream performs at 2 pm and 3 pm. Please specify which performance you plan to attend when you RSVP to membership@decordova.org, or 781/259-3629. Space is limited; RSVP by Wednesday, September 10.
Artist Talks
Gallery Talks: Meet the Artists or Curator
Third Floor Lobby, Saturdays at 3 pm
The act of creating artwork can be just as exciting as looking at the final product. Meet and discuss the creative process with local New England artists who currently have work on view at DeCordova. Or go behind the scenes to learn about the exhibition and collection process with a curator. Drop by DeCordova and have your questions answered. Free with museum admission.
Puppets, Ghosts, and Zombies: The Sculpture of Pat Keck
Pat Keck October 4
Pat Keck December 6
General Information
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is a museum of modern and contemporary American art with a particular emphasis on the work of New England artists. It features the only public sculpture park of its kind in New England and the largest non-degree granting studio art program in the state. DeCordova opened in 1950 on the former estate of Julian de Cordova, a Boston entrepreneur and supporter of the arts.
DeCordova Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. Admission is $6 per person, $4 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6-12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours and is free. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The Café @ DeCordova is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 3 pm. New Time: Free guided public tours of the Museum's main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm as of October 2003. Free tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to October. No Sculpture Park tours in August and September 2003 due to construction. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
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