A fist-sized Carolina wren made of clay; a babbling brook captured with felt; a towering view of an aspen grove that comes into full view only after long moments of examination—these are but a few pleasures in the latest State of Craft, 108|Contemporary’s annual end-of-year show. Netherlander artist Pauline Verbeek juried the exhibit, which is purely made up of work by Oklahoma members of the gallery. You’d think that a selection as insular as a gallery’s membership roster might make for a staid, stolid show. This is anything but.
Take Jarrett Maxwell’s “Undercurrent,” a glass-topped table supported by two separate structures, one flowing and organic, one geometrical and wooden. The structures seem almost unrelated to the table, which might be floating on its own, until one looks closer and sees that the barest lip of material is holding up its glass top. As a piece of art, it’s phenomenal; as a table, it’s stunning.
That’s generally how it goes in a show like this: These pieces are part art, part craft, marvels of technical rigor and artistic application. Mary Whitney’s “Seeking Sanctuary” is a small bust of a person wearing a winged headband that might be the headpiece of Hermes, messenger of the gods. Inside the person’s chest cavity, a trio of animals sits protected. Who is seeking sanctuary, the person or the animals? Or is the person seeking sanctuary, yet still managing to give protection to smaller, more delicate creatures such as these?
One of the pieces that struck me the most was Sean Tyler’s “In The Field,” a quiet, simple piece that depicts a woman lying in a field of grass, embroidered with cotton, wool, and silk. Less than a foot wide, it still manages to impart a scene full of calm and ease. It’s another reminder of the power of craft as an art form—a field that rarely gets the credit it deserves in the world of fine art.
A show like this serves as a reminder that 108|Contemporary has for years been the strongest of the downtown galleries. Within these floor-to-ceiling windows, I’ve witnessed some of the best art I’ve seen in Tulsa in this space. While the point of the exhibition—to show off its members’ art—is a bit perfunctory, the pieces themselves are specific, strong, and singular: some of the best of what 108 has to offer.
