LINDA MARY MONTANO AT LAMB CENTER/ EMERGE/ORPHEUM: THOUGHTS

 LINDA MARY MONTANO  AT LAMB  CENTER/ EMERGE/ORPHEUM: THOUGHTS

ORIGIN: After seeing the Havey Fite show at the Lamb Center and emerge last year, remembering that I studied stone carving with Harvey Fites teacher, was it Pennington?, I felt encouraged when Shout Out: Suzanne Bennett and  Emerge: Robert Langdon asked me last year to consider a show......honored to be considered to be a Saugerties hidden and retired artist, coming out of hiding.

INFLUENCES;  Both parents musical &artistic; maternal grandmother my first teacher an outsider artist; paternal grandparents spoke no english and influenced my work with personas; immigrants in Saugerties created a social isolation and hiddenness which made art an easy language to speak; Montano's shoe store influence discipline and is a healing center, helping people; Catholic Church incense, ritual, soul study, discipline, wanting to be a priest and artist next best way. Convent as a training in performative uniformity and endurance, not speaking for 2 years while there: vow of silence.

EDUCATION: parents never critiqued, allowed always to create and given money and time to do so. Nun at College opened the door to sculpture lab and i SELF HEALED from an eating disorder.  My art as therapy always there right from the beginning. For MA  sent sculptures home from Italy and they now are going to Museums in memory of MITCHELL PAYNE. My show for MFA  live chickens in gallery and beginning of endurance performances as CHICKEN WOMAN, a chance to endure stillness publically, as art. 

NEW TAKE ON CATHOLICISM:  MATTHEW FOX : VIA POSITIVA, VIA PURGATIVA, VIA            , VIA TRANSFORMATIVA, a once Catholic priest who resaw the Catholic Mass. My art is often a response to the Catholic rituals and i admire Matthew Fox's bravery in his reseeing the Catholic rituals even though he was later excommunicated.

ART WORLD: I am an artist but view myself as an outsider who is not interested in the language or discussion that this entails.

LANGUAGE OF ART: I was a selective mute as a child and internalized thoughts words feelings ideas and traumas.  Art became and is still my most fluent  language.  I speak as art not as a life language person.

THE OCT 14-NOV19 COLLABORATIVE  SHOW IN SAUGERTIES.

EMERGE: I will collaborate with 14 artists at EMERGE on the theme of the 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS. I will make a Crucifix for the show and the wall will be an interactive "healing/prayer/miracle" interaction. One of my stone carved heads will be lying in the front window and will reference the 7 CHAKRAS, a 14 year experience I performed 1984-1998. 

  14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS: SHOUT OUT AND EMERGE: CURATOR  ROBER LANGDON

                                   Linda Mary Montano

AN INVITATION FOR YOUR PERSONAL AND UNIQUE JOURNEY THROUGH ONE OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS. OPENING AT EMERGE GALLERY 3 PM OCTOBER 14, SATURDAY.                                                        CONSIDERATIONS                                       Your art does not need to be confined behind glass. If it reaches over the boundaries of the frame it can extend 7 inches. Please indicate the number of the Station you are referencing on the back. Frames can be picked up at Emerge. The participation fee for the show is $20.                                                STATEMENT.      

Having grown up Roman Catholic in Saugerties, 81 years ago, attending St Mary's grammar school for 8 years, joining , a convent for 2 years to attempt to  become a Maryknoll Sister, attending a Catholic college for 4 years and receiving my MA from a Catholic University in Italy, it is not surprising that many times my art reflects my spiritual training and hunger!!! That is,  I am steeped in Roman Catholic theologies which sustain my need for Cosmic Order! And now, post Covid, pre Armagedón, current climate failures and unspeakable world issues invite me to fall back into a need for "Order" on a daily basis!!!

The 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS were and are still a structure and way for me to travel through my questions about death, grief, connection and compassion. Post Pandemic, these themes still visit me and I've proposed to Suzanne, Robert and Christa that the Emerge Gallery become a "healing chapel" via YOUR PERSONAL reinterpretations of the 14 Stations. Each of the frames with your art, will be placed on both side walls, 7 on one side, 7 on the other. I will provide a Crucifix for the far wall. Of course, the "prompts" that I have included here are merely "thematic suggestions" that I am proposing and I know that your practice will invite your unique response.

CONSIDERATIONS:

* To show your art, you will be receiving a recycled empty museum quality frame: 11 ½ inches wide, 15 ¼ inches high, 1 inch deep in July.

*In this email, I am listing the 14 Stations and "prompts" that you might find interesting to consider for your "station".                                  *Participation fee is $20. 

*We will have a Zoom group meeting in July to discuss details, and of course you can be in touch with me to discuss any of your concerns anytime. lindamontano@hotmail.com     845-399-2502

THE 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS AND SUGGESTED PROMPTS:

1ST STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMMED TO DEATH

PROMPTS: bullying, incorrect diagnoses, early trauma, etc

2ND STATION: JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS

PROMPTS: overwork, pay discrepancies, irreconcilable differences etc

3RD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME

PROMPTS: Divide your life into 3 timeframes. For this first-time frame, is there an event that created a fall? a disaster? a memorable issue? etc

4TH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER

PROMPT: mother, anima, feminism, gender etc

5TH STATION: SIMEON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS

PROMPT: physical, emotional, psychological, financial assistance.   birth&death doulas etc

6TH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

PROMPT: medical, professional, emotional positive connection..  the aging body etc

7TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME

PROMPTS: second 1/3^rd of life.   events, memories etc

8TH STATION: JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEUM

PROMPTS: birth doula, death doula, feminism, body etc

9TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

PROMPTS: in this 1/3^rd of life, a memorable event etc

10TH STATION: JESUS IS TRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

PROMPTS: body dysmorphia, anorexia, food issues, influencers, positive self-care etc

11TH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

PROMPTS: negative self talk, unacceptable job&working conditions, gossip, rumors etc

12TH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

PROMPTS: repressed grief, recent death of friend, body lodged trauma, losing hair etc

13TH STATION: JESUS BODY TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS

PROMPTS: nurturing friendships, therapy, swimming etc

14^th STATION: JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB

PROMPTS: gardening as a positive response to Now,  new burial possibilities.etc

14 ARTIST-COLLABORATORS AT EMERGE: CARRIE DASHOW/JOAN FFOLLIOTT/JOSEPHA GUTELIUS/ LYNN HERRING/NINA ISABELLE/ VERONICA LAWLOR/MOLLY MACKAMAN/ ELIN MENZIES/DENISE ORZO/TRACY PHILLIPS/ REBECCA RAY/ BONNIE SMITH/ANGELA GAFFNEY SMITH/JENNIFER ZACKIN

THE LAMB CENTER: Artists who have been influenced by my art-life will be chosen to show at the LAMB CENTER. This was an open call and the 3 curators chose the artists who are: