Albany Museum of Art: the breath of creativity and the identity of Africa

As you wander the streets of Albany, Georgia, take a detour down ‘Inspiration Lane’ at the free Albany Museum of Art.

On display until April 23, the visions of a trio of artists - all representing multiple media and artistic disciplines - can be viewed in the galleries of the museum.

“The only way you can see them here like this” – as three-dimensional paintings and resin sculptures - “is to actually come into the museum,” notes Jim Hendricks, public relations for the museum.

Executive Director Andy Wulf concurs.

“We are not an ivory tower. We believe in showcasing as many different artists/styles as possible. So everyone can enjoy the creative impulse.”

“We want to engage the community at all ages through art,” explains Katie Dillard, Director of Curatorial Affairs; Dillard says the museum uses various sessions to accomplish that - whether it’s Toddler Takeover sessions or using art therapy to help those afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

“With free admission, we are trying to eliminate barriers and make the museum accessible to all,” Dillard adds.

'African Artifacts of Spirituality and Identity' Exhibit currently on display at the Albany Museum of Art.

“We try to exhibit divergent themes, showing the breath of creativity,” says Wulf in one of the museum’s showrooms.

In the past, some of those ‘breaths of creativity’ have included prominent black artists, like Shanequa Gay, whose ceaseless illustrations of the black female form, on an ivory backdrop of grass and wildflowers, were all about birth and rebirth, with a focus on African-American women.

“Shanequa’s a rising star in the art community,” Wulf is quick to offer praise for her genius. “We are embracing black history – we have African artists up at any time. We want to keep the momentum going with up-and-coming black artists.”

Including Eric Mack, a North Carolina native based out of Atlanta, has a fabulous new showing in the McCormack Gallery upstairs.

“Ordo Naturalis was inspired by my passion for botany and architectural design,” Mack says, believing that “architecture runs in parallel with symmetries found in plant structures and foliage.”

He fashions his artwork from shredded packing paper, or often his own hand-made silk pulp, embellishing his aesthetic with blueprints, glitter, powdered pigments, peat-free moss, and seeds - woodoats and Chinese silver grass - cultivated from his own gardens.

One thing that sets the Albany Museum of Art apart from other institutions, confides Wulf, is that “we are a museum, and, as such, are not pigeonholed into any specific type of art. We believe in sharing the art of South Georgia with the world and sharing the world with South Georgia.”

In fact, the museum has a veritable presence in the area spanning more than three decades, and is planning an upcoming celebration – themed Metamorphosis – to showcase their future home in the heart of Albany.

“The museum’s plan is to evolve conspicuously and meaningfully to become even more relevant to our brothers and sisters of Albany and to visitors from further afield,” says Wulf.

And with an ostentatious permanent collection that comprises one of the largest compilations of sub-Saharan masterpieces in the Southeast, the museum, as Director Wulf points out, “Definitely gives ‘a strong nod’ to African-American artists.”

Currently on view in the Hodges Gallery: African Artifacts of Spirituality and Identity .

The gallery displays a bush cow mask of wood and clay from the Cameroon Grasslands; an Egungun Dance Mask of poly-chromed wood, fashioned by an unknown Nigerian Yoruba artist; and an Initiation Mask, worn by women, namely the Sande Society and Mende peoples of Sierra Leone.

In January, 2017, when a deadly tornado breached the roof of the Albany Museum of Art, all of the stored artwork and historical treasures (which require a climate-controlled environment) had to be sent to facilities in Atlanta and Chicago to be repaired.

“As it’s being returned,” comments Katie, “It’s slowly being released, every time we do a gallery shift.”

The present-day focus is on relics, notably from Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast.

As a homage to African tribal traditions, the museum displays interesting artifacts.

‘Escape Plan’ by Elinor Saragoussi, of Athens, for the West Gallery at the Albany Museum of Art.

A ‘kneeling female’ sculpture of terra cotta and patina, conceived by an Akan artist of Ghana, rests alongside the ‘male twin figure’, an image carved from Sese wood, adorned with beads and string.

The sculpture was commissioned as a dedication to Ibeji, the deity of twins, in memory of a lost child.

With the highest incidence of twin births in the known world, the ethnic tribespeople of Yorubaland – residents of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, some 42 million strong – match that, unfortunately, with an almost equally-high infant mortality rate.

In the back of the museum is a great-room for inspiration.

Kids can admire the eclectic rugs and their vibrant patterning, search through a vast library of artsy manuscripts, or find their own stimulation to foster their individual talents.

In order for guests to get to this ‘imagination station’, they have only to traverse the West Gallery, through Elinor Saragoussi’s fantasy world, called Escape Plan.

Specifically designed for this site, the Athens artist and blossoming musician invented a whimsical universe populated by fictitious characters.

“As I become more and more infatuated with the exercise of building my own reality through artistic creation, Escape Plan is yet another attempt to realize the fantasy I yearn to inhabit. With this installation, I have explored a particular ‘pocket universe’ – the domain of the hooded giants.”

The bonneted creatures were inspired by her mother’s stint in the hospital for brain surgery…from the subsequent hair loss and constant cloaking of her head.

Representing Saragoussi’s own insecurities, the giants reside in a bright, magical domain, augmented by a soundscape from her acoustical partner, Max Boyd.

“This juxtaposition of the playful and the dark…creates something that…is best experienced in person. For me, the artistic process is a quiet act of revolt against the contemporary culture of fast-paced, disposable content.”

Indeed, the anthologies of Albany’s Museum of Art are anything but disposable.

Tasteful and stylish, they represent a true diversity of styles and creative license.

Albany Museum of Art 311 Meadowlark Drive, Albany, GA (229) 439-8400 Open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. No admission cost.

Vickie Lillo - Gadsden County News Service

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