Exploring The Bottle As Contemporary Art

And Vernacular Tradition

RIDGEFIELD — “Bottle: Contemporary Art and Vernacular Tradition” is one of a few major exhibitions currently at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. Being presented until April 10, explores the use of the bottle in contemporary art making, and seeks to reveal how deeply rooted the bottle is as an archetypal object in our culture.

The exhibition was curated by Aldrich director of exhibitions Richard Klein.

Bottles are so ubiquitous in everyday life that they have become practically invisible to most people. Developed over 2,000 years ago with the birth of glassblowing, the bottle as a functional object continues to be indispensable to the modern world.

Bottles have also served a less practical purpose in the recent past, however, as both subject matter and material for a diverse range of contemporary artists. The exhibition questions why this common utilitarian object has attracted the interest of so many artists.

Rather than focusing on glassblowing as an art or craft, “Bottle” examines the use of the bottle as a poetic container, a space that is both in our world and uniquely separated from it.

The nature of the bottle as a spiritual space, its metaphorical potential, and its use as container for liquor (“spirits”), drew self-taught artists to use it, particularly in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

The bottle’s intrinsic psychological and physiological associations, as emphasized by folk artists, attracted the attention of the Surrealists in the 1920s and other modernists who were interested in raw, unmediated expression.

Additionally, the bottle’s role in preserving food and biological specimens has not gone unnoticed as a rich source of meaning over the years. Artistic revolutionaries including Marcel Duchamp, René Magritte, Jean Dubuffet, and Joseph Beuys have all understood the bottle’s potential power as a vehicle for aesthetic inquiry.

Exhibition artists include Joseph Beuys, Dove Bradshaw, Bethany Bristow, Tony Feher, Phil Frost, David Hammons, Mona Hatoum, Damien Hirst, Whitfield Lovell, Josiah McElheny, Barry McGee, Sean Mellyn, Maria Porges, Charles Ray, Alison Saar, Claude Simard, and Kiki Smith.

In addition to selecting recent works, The Aldrich has also commissioned several new pieces especially for the exhibition. In an age increasingly governed by electronic media, “Bottle” illustrates how humble containers can hold a collective fascination that transcends both time and place.

The exhibition begins with a brief exploration of the bottle in art from popular sources. A selection of whimsy bottles from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum (New York) provides bottles that reflect the earlier European traditions of building objects, such as ships, inside glass containers.

Other objects from popular culture presented as an introduction include an original “Mrs Butterworth’s” syrup bottle from the 1970s, a Jean-Paul Gaultier “Madonna” perfume bottle from the early 1990s, and a collection of Poire Williams brandy bottles.

The exhibition also examines the role of the “bottle tree” in 20th Century art and culture. Rooted in an early African belief that evil spirits can be captured in glass bottles, the bottle tree is a folk tradition once common in the rural South and in Caribbean communities

 A bottle tree is made by selecting a tree with upward-pointing branches, such as a cedar, and then stripping off the foliage. Bottles, usually in a variety of colors, are then placed upside down on the branch ends.

The form has evolved in the 20th Century from being primarily used for ceremonial and religious purposes to also serving a decorative function.

A handful of individuals are well known for continuing this tradition in contemporary art making, including African-American artists David Hammonds, Alison Saar, and Nari Ward, who have adopted bottle tree imagery in their work.

Finally, noted Southern folk art historian William Arnett has documented contemporary bottle trees and bottle tree-inspired sculptures.

The exhibition includes a series of Mr Arnett’s photographs, along with several anonymous bottle sculptures from his collection.

Through January 2 the museum is also showing “Shahzia Sikander: Nemesis,” a collection of recent animations, drawings and a site-specific installation by the Pakistan-born artist, and “David Opdyke: 2004 Aldrich Emerging Artist Award Exhibition,” with recent works by the artist selected to receive the museum’s largest single award.

On view until March 27 is “Michael Rees: Large and Moving,” an exhibition of sculpture and animation, and “Jonatha Seliger: Politeness Counts,” the third installation in the museum’s new Main Street Sculpture Project.

The Aldrich Museum is at 258 Main Street (Route 35) in Ridgefield. It can be reached by calling 203-438-4519.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday.