When Naperville Art League (NAL) organizers announced the theme to their 14th annual public art competition, they could not have predicted the type of submissions they were about to receive. The oxymoronic title for the show, #SillySeriousness, struck a chord with 50 local artists and wildly creative entries flooded into the gallery. The display, which ran from March 15 through March 31, included required artist statements that, posted alongside exhibit pieces, shed insight into the mind and motivation of the artists.
Running the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime, works of art reflected the wit and perception of their creators. One mixed media painting titled “The Sisters” depicts family members as serving pieces of an English tea set. An oil and cold wax entry shows revelers at a New Year’s Eve party sharing a silly moment made possible by numerous party hats and an excess of alcohol.
Things take a more serious turn in “Too Many to Choose From,” a mixed-media illustration that focuses on individual insecurities, societal demands and one’s need to be accepted.
More so than ever before, the show exuded a pervasive undercurrent of political sentiments. “The Clown King of Doomsday Forest” and “White House Barbie” hung together with “The Ripley Effect,” a biting representation of the legendary Robert Ripley of “Believe It Or Not!” fame pitted next to an elected President, publicly mocking a physically handicapped person. Another commentary came from the Best of Show winner in her piece, “The Rape of Europa,” a large format, brightly colored, whimsical acrylic that carried a wallop. Artist Patricia Melekus playfully took an ironic view of a serious subject (the theft, destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during the Third Reich and the Second World War.) and paired it with her statement, “No Comment,” as further satirical enforcement of the historical silencing imposed on artists of the era.
As this competition concludes, one can look forward to NAL’s 15th annual public art competition, tentatively scheduled for March of 2018. With the promise of a year filled with folly and fodder, there will be no lack of inspiration for the artistic mind.
