"In Our Minds" at Minnesota Museum of American Art
The Minnesota Museum of American Art and Interact present In Our Minds, an exhibition celebrating art making as a form of research, improvisation, and play.
In Our Minds features recent works by Beatrix*Jar, Bill Crane, Kramer Hegenbarth, HML, Mary Johnson, Ashlea Karkula, Don Porcella, Mark Schoening, Andrew Seymour, Briana Shelstad, Dietrich Sieling, and Victor Van—artists who revel in the process of creation as an opportunity to test ideas and see how they will play out in material form.
Trusting their intuition to make material and aesthetic decisions as they go, these artists transform and enliven everyday materials and themes into prompts for curiosity, enjoyment, and an occasional bit of humor. In Kramer Hegenbarth’s hands, functional ceramics solidify into monster mouths. HML sews together humble scraps of fabric to create a one-of-a-kind muscle suit. In Mary Johnson’s Nightingale Rug, an assemblage of squeaky dog toys forms a vibrant, playful abstraction. Don Porcella uses humble pipe cleaners to create whimsical, immersive landscapes. Andrew Seymour’s brightly colored parades of circular forms exude the warm, sunny, invincible spirit of summer.
Balms for anxious and uncertain times, the artworks represent the self-trust and resourcefulness of their makers, along with their openness to different artistic outcomes and to having fun along the way. In Our Minds extends visitors an invitation to engage in multisensory play from the sidewalks and skyways of downtown St. Paul. These are serious reflections on the human condition, to be sure, but they also ask if art needs to be “serious” to be important.
In Our Minds features artists with and without disabilities, from inside and outside the Interact studio community. Taking cues from Interact, In Our Minds seeks to advance frameworks for understanding creativity that move away from myths of independence towards recognition and celebration of interdependence.
Exhibition Details
When | July 30—January 8, 2022
Where | Minnesota Museum of American Art, 350 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55101
Accessibility | The M's gallery spaces are currently closed to the public. In Our Minds is installed in the windows on Robert and 4th streets, as well as in the EcoLab skyway. The window installations are on view to the public 24/7. Admission is free, everyone is welcome, and maps are available onsite. To make arrangements or for further help, please call the M at (651) 797-2571 or email info@mmaa.org.
View online | Browse selected works from the exhibition by Bill Crane, Kramer Hegenbarth, HML, Ashlea Karkula, Andrew Seymour, Briana Shelstad, and Victor Van.
Image description: Ashlea Karkula, Sharkbite, 2018, acrylic on stretched canvas, 36 x 36 inches. An exciting crowd of animals covers the canvas in vibrant colors. A tangerine shark with blue eyes, grey shark with tongue sticking out, and green alligator-like creature are featured more prominently in the chaotic array. Smaller creatures fill spaces throughout the scene, their eyes large and circular. Some animals play basketball, intermingle, and smile. The whole composition is covered with bright hues. Aquatic blue fills the background.