The Palmer Museum Entry

To start with this, I had no idea before last Tuesday that I would ever step into the Palmer Museum of Art. Mind you this has nothing to do with me not liking art; I have the utmost appreciation and resepect for all varieties of art and the types of artists who create it. I simply did not imagine that I would need to set foot in there while I spend my years here on campus. With that being said, I am incredibly happy that Mrs. Squillante gave us this assignment so that I may have the need to examine the museum to see what works it had to offer. After doing much wandering and even more wondering, I stumbled across a piece that commanded my attention for minutes before I was able to take my gaze off of the work. The piece was created using acrylic and charcoal on the canvas and was constructed by William T. Wiley in 1975. This work, entitled "Modern Limits", featured many images that I could sum up to be described as different. The image that lay before me was one that at first looked as if the artist had set off a fire cracker that was made of charcoal. But as I started to look closer, I saw that this initial explosion of sorts was actually riddled with both text and seemingly hidden images including a skull, an eyeball, a moon, a telescope, variations of what look like city slums, and to top it all off, a man wearing a sombrero in the bottom right corner. The text, I gathered, was a conversation between two people. It read in one area, "Grumble Grumble." "Listen to me." "Don't be so serious." "I can if I want....". After doing some research on the meaning and symbolism, I found that many of this objects of which appealed to me each had a very distinct purpose and were not placed there simply for enjoyment. The man with the sombrero represents the father of the artist. Furthermore, the eyeball and the telescope represent a person looking through a surveyor's telescope. Consequently, Wiley's father was a surveyor for the U.S. government. In accordance with the text, I found it to be a conversation that is being had between a parental figure and a child. Whether or not these were actual conversations that Wiley had with his father I cannot be sure of, but it would stand to reason if they were. Because of this symbolism that is tied to parental and infantile or adolescent figures, the piece reminds me of the relationship that I have with my parents. Ultimately, I look at the text within the piece focusing on how juvenile it is in the case of both parties. I conclude that I am glad that none of these conversations have taken place in regards to my family for quite some time. That aside, as I continued to research this artist, I was suprised to find that Wiley is a very accomplished artist with works of his being held in many famous museums around the country, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago where his works being exhibited are much like this one; beautiful and filled with a symbolic nature. The only claim that I imagine Wiley would be able to make here is that his family and his background is important to him and is something he can be proud of. While I realize this may a simple claim, it is important to remember that not everyone may be able to make a claim such as this one. With all of this being said, I would fancy myself as a museum goer and thouroughly enjoyed myself last week. In addition to this, while I did not like some of what I saw, I always appreciate every work of art because of the fact that I know it means something to somebody. I am sure that I will go back, maybe not in the near future, but sometime in the next year or so. It depends on what they are exhibiting in regards to my interest level. All in all though, it was an experience that I am glad I was able to be a part of.