BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Canal Street Art Gallery presents: Heroes & Villains, open Jan. 20 and on view through March 4. Join the Gallery on 3rd Friday Gallery Night in Historic Downtown Bellows Falls from 5 – 7p.m., Jan. 20, to celebrate and meet the artists. All Gallery events are free and open to the public.
The Heroes & Villains exhibit shows artwork by Clare Adams, Thomasin Alyxander, Debi A Barton, Jean Cannon, Len Emery, Mindy Fisher, Corinne Greenhalgh, Gregory Damien Grinnell, Su Lin Mangan, Charles Norris-Brown, Gretchen Seifert, and Linda Udd. The story of the hero and villain is told in many ways. Through art, music, performance, writing, and everyday life, the hero and villain come alive. The quest of the hero often includes the villain, and the villain’s story may even be told as well as or even instead. Villains reveal many of the hardest decisions a hero must make. The internal struggle of the hero becomes clear only after encountering, then revealing the true nature of, and finally conquering the part of the villain, which resides in the hero themself.
“As a bead weaver I try to stitch sculptures that tell stories about society, weaving together elements from folklore, history, literature and mythology.” -Thomasin Alyxander
“I have collected vintage textiles, buttons, and ephemera which tell stories of people, especially women, who came before me. What stands out most to me during these strange times is not, however, the Villains who wish to control, but the strength and perseverance of the Heroes who will not be controlled.” -Debi A Barton
“Are they heroes or are they villains? What parameters are ascribed to each? They are indeed heroes in their own reality but what of our reality as observers?” -Gregory Damien Grinnell
“My painting and drawing usually include people. I like to use figures because they embody a spiritually infinite fascination.” -Kathy Lavine
“Escape depicts the underground railroad routes that escaping slaves traveled, from the southern territories to the northern territories. The heroes are not only the escaping slaves but the people, the large network, who risked their lives to help them on their way to freedom.” -Su Lin Mangan
“One of the most heroic acts one can undergo is taking on one’s daimon/demon. To battle the inner chaos and untangle the knots, to have the courage to look at the shadow that personifies everything one refuses to acknowledge about oneself; within this dark seeming abyss lie the possible jewels of the authentic self, the discarded self tangled in darkness.” -Linda Udd
In the promotional piece for the Heroes & Villains show, The Power of One, 2018, by the late Charles Norris-Brown, the same girl at different ages supports herself to reach for the sky. This represented to the artist the sentiment of ‘Never give up.’ Perhaps in as many ways as there are people, heroes may include all those who accept the call to the heroic quest.