September 13, 2014 - January 4, 2015
PDP Gallery
Above: Joel Sternfeld, American, born 1944, McLean, Virginia, December 4, 1978, Dye coupler print, Purchase through the gift of Mrs. Joseph Goodhue, 1983.15, ©Joel Sternfeld; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.
“Works on paper make for an intimate viewing experience. You get pulled into a piece, and then you may find yourself repelled, bemused, or both.
- Cate McQuaid The Boston Globe (read the full review)
The aesthetic of the strange can mean many things. Terms such as surreal, primitive, symbolic, and uncanny describe works that rely on a connection with the odd or illogical. In our day-to-day lives we use words such as quirky, weird, bizarre, peculiar, eerie, disturbing, distorted, and foreign to describe what resides outside the parameters of “the normal.” To complicate things further, what one person considers strange, another may not.
This exhibition presents works of art that the curator sees implicitly or explicitly as strange. In some cases the unusual is plainly accomplished using unique perspectives or techniques. Other works engage with mystery and fantasy. Designed to elicit both delight and fright, Perfectly Strange is loosely divided into four sections: the world of the imagination, the world of the real, the world of the distorted and grotesque, and the world of the circus. Incorporating prints, drawings, and photographs, the installation will be strange in its own right, combining media in playful and unexpected ways.
Press
Worcester exhibition focuses on the bizarre in art - The Boston Globe
Worcester Art Museum presents 'Perfectly Strange' exhibit - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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