THE TASK THAT IS THE TOIL
curated by John Lee Matney
August 14, 2021 - November 7, 2021
The Linda Matney Gallery, The Task that is the Toil, reflects the gallery’s eclectic offerings, Southern roots, and ambitious scope. Referencing a quotation from Virgil’s Aeneid which the curator came across in a work by Carl Jung about “emerging from a nightmare, dream, or the unconscious,” the intertextual title suggests multivalent connections and layers of meaning found in a wide variety of media and modes. Painted, photographic, and sculptural works, both naturalistic and abstract, from more than twenty artists provide a range of emotions and responses to the current moment. However, while the theme unavoidably alludes to the impact of the global pandemic, the exhibition is not so literal. Instead, together, these works, some recent but many made pre-Covid, speak to the times while reflecting more personal and universal reflections of the human condition. The ability to speak to and transcend the current moment is the strength of the exhibition, the individual works, and the gallery’s larger mission
Margaret Richardson
The Task that is the Toil is about emerging from a nightmare, dream, or the unconscious- literally hell in the quote it references. The show is loosely about personal or collective psychology associated with emerging from the pandemic or other challenges.
“Easy is the descent to Avernus; But to retrace your steps and come out to the air above, that is the task, that is the toil.” Virgil
“Etymology. From Virgil's Aeneid, concerning Avernus, a metonym for the underworld and to Lake Avernus in Italy, a volcanic crater lake reputed to emit deadly vapors.”
John Lee Matney
ARTSY PRESS MARGARET RICHARDSON ‘S REVIEW BRIAN KELLEY’S REVIEW
Featuring Artists Associated with Georgia, New York, California, Brazil, France, and Virginia, including Art and Margo Rosenbaum, Michael K. Paxton, Scott Belville, Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Ryan Lytle, Kent Knowles, John Lee Matney, Sidney Rouse, Miles Cleveland Goodwin, Karen Allison, Jennifer Nagle Myers, Noah James Saunders, Len Jenkin, Eliot Dudik, Iris Wu, Brian Freer, Richard Downs, Teddy Johnson, Merrilee Cleveland, T. J. Edwards, Linda Mitchell, Michael Ross, William Ruller, and others.
