This week Armin Mühsam visited us in Concord, MA as he traveled from his opening reception at gallery Ambacher Contemporary in Munich, Germany back to his home in Maryville, Missouri. Via bicycle on a beautiful fall New England day he took in some of our local treasures: Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau's replica cabin (two of them), Old North Bridge, and the Battle Road at Minuteman National Historic Park. He describes Concord as bucolic and idyllic.
Mr. Mühsam's Artist Talk was inspiring. Armin is at ease talking about his work's symbolism and underlying meaning. According to Armin, visual art can entice the viewer through beauty and intriguing visual effect and then, once the viewer engages with the work, reveal its deeper meaning.
Foundations are a subject that Armin has been drawing and painting for many years. The Foundations Series is shown together here at Albright Art for the first time. This work is a commentary on humans cutting in sharply to the softer more gentle lines of nature. Is this the beginning of a project or what remains of our hand after an apocalyptic event? What is the purpose of these imagined structures? Has our direct pragmatisism permanently disassembled natural balance in these areas? These are questions the viewer asks as she gets closer to the seductively rendered perspective, shadows, angles and curves of Mr. Mühsam's work.
This show is on exhibit until November 4.