Artists reach back to religious roots
for inspiration in art museum exhibition

By Sharlene Celeskey, December 2011
Contemporary Culture Editor

Two contemporary artists with two different styles, two different visions and two different views share an exhibition of contrasts at the Phoenix Art Museum. Both Angela Ellsworth and Rebecca Campbell share a background of growing up within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah. They both show how their Mormon heritage affects them in their art.

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Campbell and L.A. Louver, Venice, CA

"Epidemic," 2011, oil on canvas by Rebecca Campbell is currently on exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Ellsworth uses performance art as well as three dimensional works to express her heritage. She reaches back into her pioneer heritage to provide the inspiration for her work. Her great-great-grandmother was one of nine wives married to Mormon prophet Lorenzo Snow.

Her most striking work on exhibit is “Seer Bonnets: A Continuing Offense.” She took nine pioneer type bonnets and decorated each one with pearl stick pins. Each one is on a stand, and they are positioned facing down. Each bonnet is different with a beautiful intricate design on it. Upon closer inspection, visitors see the sharp stick pins on the inside, and although lovely on the outside, it is perilous on the inside.

Ellsworth is interested in polygamous cultures, and this theme is repeated in her work. She also performs with the sister-wife performers, and she pays tribute to this group in her work, “Lady-Ties for a Line Dance.” The nine tie collars with detachable braids were worn by the first performance group.  She has placed them placed on the wall in a “v” pattern  and the pastel, cotton bows and collars evoke memories of materials of the 19th century.

Rebecca Campbell uses both abstraction and realism in her paintings. She uses this style to create tension in her work, and visitors see this in “Epidemic.” The artwork shows a woman in the foreground rendered in great detail and covered with butterflies, flowers and bluebirds. The beach she stands on is painted with large, bold brushstrokes that are abstract in comparison to the woman’s figure. The subject stares blankly out of the canvas and looks unaware of her surroundings, including the carnival in the background.

The bluebird theme reappears in her “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” sculpture. She has covered a dead tree with lush black velvet and placed thirty glass birds on it. The birds are filled with blue Windex, and the tree is set in a container of large, white solar salt taken from Salt Lake. The color scheme and the materials are a great study in contrasts. The tree is beautiful material, but the other materials are not.

Neither artist is a practicing Mormon, but her childhood religion still plays an important part in her art. Campbell rebelled as a teenager against her religion and became a punk rocker, and Ellsworth and none of her immediate family are active in the church.

The theme in their art of, nothing is as it seems on the surface, was influenced by their religion. Both women explore their contemporary world by going back to their pasts. This exhibition is very thought provoking, and visitors will want to read all the descriptions of the artwork as they view it. The art leaves the audience wanting to know more about them. There is a sign in the room saying, “most art by women is not taken seriously.” Both Campbell and Ellsworth have a great deal to say.

The exhibition is currently showing at the Phoenix Art Museum through Jan.22, 2012 in the Marshall Gallery and Hendler Gallery. The museum hours are: Wednesday,10a.m. to 9p.m.,Thursday to Saturday, 10a.m. to 5p.m., Sunday, noon to 5p.m.and on First Friday every month, 6 to 10p.m.For admission and further information, please visit http://www.phxart.org/index.php.

Email Puma Press