The tall white walls and paint-splattered cement floors of the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center are festooned with interpretations and glimpses of the future for its 2004 Members Exhibition, entitled "The World of Tomorrow...Today!"
While the future of mankind may be difficult to foresee, the fate of Hallwalls has already been decided. This year's Members Exhibition marks the gallery's last in the Tri-Main Center, Hallwall's home since 1993, before their big move to the renovated Delaware Ashbury Church in downtown Buffalo.
Hallwalls is following the lead of Buffalo singer, poet and local supporter Ani DiFranco, who moved her Righteous Babe Records to the downtown church in hopes of preserving some of the beautiful architectural history of Buffalo, as well as bringing people back into the city.
But the exhibit wasn't just about Hallwall's future; it was about the future of society. With the world facing the tumultuous times it is, any and all members of the community were asked to conceptualize their vision of the world of the tomorrow.
The pieces of art came in all forms, from molded sculpture, oil on canvas and photographs, to installations, mixed media, egg tempera and video exhibitions.
Some artists made their opinion of the future perfectly clear, as in Susan R. Wilke's piece, "2050 A.D. 'Totally Paved Over.'" Wilke's egg tempera on board pictured a world covered with asphalt roads and cement sidewalks as far as the eye could see. Only a tiny speck of green, in the form of a potted tree, broke the vast expanse of dark grays and black.
Others, like artist Barbara Baird, chose a greener and more natural view of the impending future. Her oil on canvas, "Ahead of the Curve," reversed Wilke's theme by centering on rolling hills of vibrant green pastures and a blurred tree line in the distance, rather than a paved paradise. The pastoral painting only devoted a small corner to a country road passing by the beautiful scene.
Kevin Fix collaged pictures of Osama Bin Laden, terrorists and reactions to Sept. 11, 2001 into a mixed media piece entitled "suffer'd." Amid the pictures was a statement from Fix on the role of artists in today and tomorrow's world.
"What is happening to the world lies, at the moment, just outside the realm of human understanding. It is the writers, the poets, the artists, the singers, the filmmakers who can make the connections, who can find ways of bringing it into the realm of understanding."
The majority of the representations adorning Hallwall's walls and floors were abstract, and it was difficult to find messages or connections to the future. As Fix said, the world is a difficult place to understand right now, and for many of the artists the future seems blurred and challenging to predict.
Messages and ideas could be deciphered though. Many artists saw a future of greed, lost childhoods, media infestation and human disconnection, while the minority of them held a more optimistic view, seeing society return to more wholesome values.
Hallwalls will exhibit the works featured in "The World of Tomorrow...Today!" through Feb. 27 at the Tri-Main Center on 2495 Main St., Suite 425. More information can be found at www.hallwalls.org.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
