Picture
a circus! The tent, lights, animals, acrobats,
dust, color, music, clowns, cacophony, twenty
things going on at once. Think also, of this as a
microcosm of democracy, where diversity is not
merely tolerated, it is celebrated!- where dwarfs,
giants, old, young, jugglers, clowns, elephants and
acrobats fit right in. Everyone becomes part of
the circus family.
DeLoss
McGraw distills these images for us. Circus becomes
a metaphor for the world. He presents the
contrasts: light/dark, big/little, delight/fear,
happy/sad, innocent/ depraved.
As in all
of McGraw's work, however, there is much more going
on than just the surface images. As always, he is
making connections between other disciplines; with
literature, with drama, with music. This time the
connections are with Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
and the atmosphere of Germany before World War II,
as well as with a contemporary circus-maker, John
Highkin and San Diego.
In an
abrupt change of pace from the lighthearted circus
atmosphere, the center of this exhibition houses a
series of illustrations for McGraw's artist's book
of the Brecht poem The Children's Crusade, which
chronicles the tragedy of fifty-five war orphans
trying to find shelter and peace in Poland in 1939.
Brecht chose a simple folk song format to tell this
horrible story. McGraw echoes this by presenting
hauntingly beautiful paintings of devastating
events.
O.K. What
connection is there between these people, these
events, and the circus? What connection between
that time in history and today? McGraw challenges
us to make the connections for ourselves.
Artists
throughout history have often functioned as the
conscience of their respective ages. DeLoss McGraw
just may be ours.
Peggy
Jacobs, Exhibitions Department Chair
Skip Pahl, Executive Director
Picture
a circus! The tent, lights, animals, acrobats,
dust, color, music, clowns, cacophony, twenty
things going on at once. Think also, of this as a
microcosm of democracy, where diversity is not
merely tolerated, it is celebrated!- where dwarfs,
giants, old, young, jugglers, clowns, elephants and
acrobats fit right in. Everyone becomes part of
the circus family.
