Last Chance

Catch it or Regret It

by Holly Otterbein

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Published: May 6, 2009

Every woman should be lucky enough to age like Marie Ulmer. At 91 years old, she is wrinkled, grayed and sun-spotted, clearly, but — somehow — as adorable as a cartoon kitten, and still a prolific artist. This exhibit gives us a rare look at the East Kensington resident's work from college, including delicate illustrations and paintings that are as feminine in subject matter (a mother playing guitar for her daughter; young girls writing in their journals) as they are in execution (her brushstrokes move daintily across the canvas, with pastel colors throughout). The works of four other female artists are displayed alongside Ulmer's, including Lindsey Baker's paintings of nude, hot pink equestrians (pictured).

The author Madeleine L'Engle once said that if she had a story to tell that adults couldn't understand, she'd write it for kids instead. Some might say Maurice Maeterlinck should've followed L'Engle's rule with Bluebird. The play, which follows a boy as he tries in vain to save his sister's life by capturing a magical bluebird, takes many liberties — water, light and even cake have thoughts and bodies, making it hard for an adult to suspend her disbelief long enough to appreciate the story's rich metaphor. With the curious staging and comical characters presented by EgoPo Productions, though, these surreal scenes are, at best, like the hallucinations in American Beauty — revealing of what lurks beneath the surface of society, family and our conscious minds. Read K. Ross Hoffman's review on Critical Mass.

Sandra Binion doesn’t shed much direct light on her titular subject, a farming community in Sweden. Instead, through photographs, watercolors and video installation, she illuminates it briefly, barely — in the rhythmic sound of a man raking leaves, a haunting video of water endlessly drifting through a forest, and an image of two hands pouring beet juice into bland glass jars. Though it leaves us craving more — who are these people, and why are they so quaint? — Binion is smart for allowing mystery to fester in her work. Our questions, after all, are nothing a quick Google search can’t answer.

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