To the male artists whose work is displayed in the Evanston Art Center, the weird and scary creatures of Halloween are nothing compared to the real-life anxieties of the American household.
The center’s newest exhibit, “Domestic Disturbance,” which runs through Nov. 20, features six male artists whose work reflects a changing domestic realm where men play just as active as a role as women. Through mediums such as painting and photography, each artist addresses what they say is a social dysfunction or disturbance in modern culture.
“The life of the average man in the suburban heartland of America presents certain kinds of anxieties,” said Lelde Kalmite, director of development and public relations coordinator, 2603 Sheridan Road. “We chose six artists whose work seemed to address that issue.”
An all-male art show dealing with domestic life may seem like an oxymoron, but that is exactly the issue that Kalmite said the gallery wanted to examine. Stay-at-home dads are no longer rare, but Kalmite says men are still in a period of transition when it comes to firsthand involvement in the household.
“Now that men have decided to stay at home and experience the domestic world that women monopolize, they see it in different ways,” Kalmite said. “Perhaps the domestic world itself has now changed. Men’s entry into the domestic role has brought a new face to it.”
According to Kalmite, the exhibit is unique and thought-provoking because it provides a male take on areas of domestic life that are traditionally associated with women, such as shopping and consumerism. In a way, their discomfort becomes their art.
Brian Ulrich, one of the six featured artists, began working on a photography project called “Copia” in 2001. “Copia” examines consumerism as affected by the political situations in America.
“I started going to stores to photograph, looking for ‘What is the psychological evidence of stress on people’s faces?'” Ulrich said. “I thought it was kind of an odd way to deal with things.”
Two of his photos are portraits of cashiers, their faces in the dead center of the photograph staring blankly at the viewer. Ulrich said the ones that surprised him most were a photo of a handgun display shelf and a portrait of a smiling family from Indiana in which the father holds a slide projector.
“The couple holding the projector is my favorite because it’s just so bizarre,” Ulrich said. “I think that’s the strangest thing.”
Ulrich said the show is a powerful, descriptive view of American society and that each artist has interesting plays of imagery.
“It’s alternately funny and scary,” Ulrich said.
Reach Kristyn Schiavone at [email protected].
