Imaginary town a place of incongruity, satire
When taking in the works of Charlotte McGraw, viewers are transported to another world.
The world resembles our own but features jarring, frequently amusing incongruities.
For example, a mustachioed man in a sombrero is given the eyes of a cat, and an oversized pug in a knight’s helmet is seen riding a tiny horse.
McGraw — a West Side resident who is featured in a solo show at the Sharon Weiss Gallery — has a name for the imaginary place that is home to such surprising creatures: Charlottesville.
A glance at the artist’s pieces (which feature elements of collage and painting) reveals that this place is a long, long way from the city of the same name in Virginia.
McGraw is among the 50 to 60 artists who make use of the Goodwill Columbus Art Studio & Gallery on the Northwest Side.
The space “is open to anyone with a documented disability,” said Jane Carroll of Goodwill Columbus. “That could be anything from a physical disability, intellectual disability (or) emotional disability.”
Last year, gallery owner Sharon Weiss encountered the work of McGraw (who in addition to battling depression has disabilities stemming from an automobile crash).
“I thought Charlotte’s work was fabulous,” Weiss said. “She has a great sense of color. She is very in tune to the community, so she puts in her collages many things that are really relevant to our community.”
In the most striking series in the show, McGraw depicts the prison population of Charlottesville. Mugshot-type collages present a wild assortment of characters standing in front of a height chart.
In “The Notorious Checkmate Cedric,” for example, cut-out images of squinting eyes behind glasses and a wide smile accent the figure’s face; his body is represented in an image of a chessboard, in front of which a pair of hands hold a placard with personal information.
All the prisoners are smiling, perhaps because of the penal code of Charlottesville: According to a tonguein-cheek wall label (devised by McGraw and Goodwill Columbus resident artist Cody Miller), those convicted of crimes in Charlottesville are put on a diet while incarcerated. “This results in citizens getting arrested on purpose,” the wall label reads.
McGraw’s wry social commentary is also reflected in the collage “Former Chairperson of the Underwater Crimes Division,” in which a snorkel and fish emerge from the mouth of a bewildered-looking being. If the “chairperson” wasn’t seemingly underwater himself, perhaps he might still have a job?
Another series features government officials of Charlottesville, dubbed the “Knights of Charlotte’s Round Table.” In the exuberantly silly collage, “Sir Bruin of Air Quality Control,” a long-billed pelican wearing a knight’s armor stands in high heels atop a horse.
Those who appreciate art with ample creativity and satirical content will want to take a trip to Charlottesville — and return again soon.