The thing that makes art different from other economy-driving activities is that it is free to bare its teeth and snap at those who consume it.
Art can be beautiful, inspiring, motivating, encouraging, discouraging—really anything a creator wants it to be. Just as often, it has an effect the artist did not plan.
Local painter Anna Simson’s current exhibition at Petaluma’s artistic haven Slough City Studios calls viewers in this way, at least those who do not scamper away with their tails between their legs. The walls of the gallery sport an array of dark, mysterious works which are so light and direct in their composition that the room absolutely flutters with them.
The abstract/figurative paintings, mixing pencil, gouache, acrylics and more, mostly on paper, some on canvas, form color-hints more than bold, declarative strokes.
There are a few critiques happening at the same time through the work, each of them humorous while cutting to the bone … or withering man flesh, as in the rendering of a series of male nudes in a row, reminiscent of the familiar repeated image of evolution from ape to man, each penis more sad and erect than the last. Title? “Not Yours, Motherf***ers.”
“The work to me doesn’t come from a linear, rational place of critique,” said Simson after the opening. “I’m not coming at it and saying, I’m gonna make a critique of patriarchy or power.”
Instead she allows “whatever comes out … to just be.”
The busy cluster of paintings in the exhibit bewilders at first, then rewards further reflection. Take a group of paintings which recall smooth, nonfigurative design art of the ’80s, but torn through the middle with jagged edges, like splinters.
Upon closer inspection, the images reveal themselves to be repeated renderings of “Falling through a Floor, #1–4.” Taken with thoughts of motherhood conjured by the show’s title—On Motherhood in a Time of Monsters—one feels the horror of parenthood looking at that gap, the obsession of a mom on safety.
“All of those stories are just in me, and then I’m letting them be when I’m making them. I don’t have any of it scripted,” said Simson when I asked her about the apparent yet allusive characters and narratives.
Slough City Studios has become an uplifting destination for the lonely hearted artists among us.
“At its heart, Slough City is a safe space for people to come express themselves and share what they’re passionate about,” said Slough City co-founder Ani Bonani.
“I see what they’re trying to cultivate,” reflected Simson with a glint of admiration. “They’re on target; they’re kind. They’re courteous; they’re professional.”
Simson began working on these paintings right about when things went sideways in 2016. Ten years in the making, it is a show that feels up to the challenge of the times, while not exactly being oppositional.
“I think the moment is about trying to be authentic and be real,” said Simson. “The work is not organizing work, and I fully own that and actually value that about it. I feel like it’s an offering. It’s something that I make that is coming from a real place.”
“Art is essential to the health of humanity,” added Bonani. “Anna’s work is a great example of this. On Motherhood in a Time of Monsters is such a powerful show and really speaks to the turbulent times we’re living in.”
The stories, the essence of what she seeks to allow to BE, the work itself is a continual call to the artist.
“The next paintings are in my studio,” said Simson, “and they’re sitting there, like, ‘OK, what are you gonna do? What’s your next move?’”
Anna Simson’s exhibit, ‘On Motherhood in a Time of Monsters,’ runs through Saturday, March 28 at Slough City Studios, 409 Petaluma Blvd. S, Suite C, Petaluma.
