PRESS

"Impressive 'Body' of Work"

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram

March 18, 2007

I'm not certain as to how many more events the now-retired Bruce Brown will have ushered into being since retirement, but one among them is "Body Parts." The show is an effort of Center for Maine Contemporary Art that has migrated to the June Fitzpatrick space at MECA. Think of the conjunctions -- Brown, CMCA, bodies by 38 artists, the Fitzpatrick name and the MECA building. It could make the head spin. Actually, it doesn't, but "Body Parts" is a good show, and you should try to see it before it closes.

I haven't tallied the photographers in it against the other artists, but photography is a significant ingredient. Brown's eye on this occasion runs to black and white and from near-abstraction to straightforward street stuff. I note that most of the photographers have not elected to blast the viewer with size. Photography's impact is directly proportional to the intensity of the image. Unless size is an ingredient in the concept of the work, nothing is gained by bloating. When the fashion for size changes, people with some mighty big prints are going to wonder why they didn't buy something smaller.

Having thus so said, Claire Seidl's photograph "Summer" is almost the largest work in the show. A head emerging from black waters, it radiates its presence throughout the expanse of the work.

Read more about the artist

Claire Seidl