Celebrate CMCA’s Summer Exhibitions

The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) in Rockland invites the public to celebrate its summer exhibitions during First Friday Art Walk on July 6, with a reception for the artists from 5-8pm. On view throughout the galleries are new exhibitions showcasing the work of artists John Bisbee, Tom Burckhardt, Jocelyn Lee, and Patricia Brace. A special performance by Brace and her performance group, B.R.A.C.E., will take place at 6pm in the CMCA courtyard. The event is free of charge and open to the public. 

The new exhibitions on view at CMCA for summer 2018 are:

Tom Burckhardt: Studio Flood, June 9 – October 7, 2018

Studio Flood features a life-size, walk-in installation executed entirely in corrugated cardboard and black paint, and centered on the image of an artist’s studio that has experienced a catastrophic flood. Crafted with great care and detail, Studio Flood uses surprise and tongue-in-cheek humor to comment on climate change and rising sea waters. 

Jocelyn Lee: The Appearance of Things, June 16 – October 14, 2018

Representing nearly ten years of work by photographer Jocelyn Lee, The Appearance of Things encompasses still life, portrait, and landscape photographs, as well as many images that fuse these genres. The installation of the works at triptychs and diptychs juxtapose various bodies in divergent earthly environments, celebrating the full arc of life from birth through blossoming and decay. 

John Bisbee: American Steel, June 30 – October 14, 2018

The first solo exhibition in Maine of sculptor John Bisbee’s work in nearly a decade, American Steel is a masterful installation that draws on a deep well of American historical and vernacular imagery. In the exhibition, Bisbee employs poetic language, narrative imagery, and potent emblems to comment on America today. Created entirely from forged and welded nails, the work is, in Bisbee’s words, “an abstraction of who we are, right now.” 

B. R. A. C. E. / MASS MoCA, June 4 – October 7, 2018

B.R.A.C.E. / MASS MoCA documents an obstacle course/performance/installation created by artist Patricia Brace while in a residency at MASS MoCA in 2018. The videos are presented as part of CMCA’s ongoing series, SCREEN, featuring new video work by contemporary Maine artists.