Wendell Castle and the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) – two things
easy to take for granted in Rochester. The museum is tiny (by big-city
comparison), and the first time I went, I breezed through in under an hour. But
when I returned with Nanette, a friend visiting from Florida, and apologized in
advance for its size, she helped me to slow down and appreciate the art, not
just treat it like speed-dating. And so I’ve developed favorite pieces that I consider
old friends, that I must seek out each time I go (and they do keep moving
around…), so they won’t feel ignored. One of them, in fact, is even by Wendell
Castle.
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| Castle's Wooden Art Table |
Sure, there are pieces by this artist dotted around
Rochester – a church here, a synagogue there, the Rochester Academy of Medicine,
outside the Chamber of Commerce building, to name a few. And there are several
in the MAG’s permanent collection (including Unicorn Family, in their outdoor park). But to see a large body of
his (large) work all together in one room gives you pause.
I visited early one weekday morning and had the entire
gallery to myself. I suspect that this will become a rare event as the calendar
closes in on December 31, when the exhibit ends. I enjoyed the perspective the
people-free hall gave me to see the artworks not just singly, but as a group.
And I took the time to read the descriptions on the wall (I was particularly drawn
to Whimsy and Randomness), and to contemplate the objects, and imagine using
them as tables or chairs, if that’s what they represented.
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