The Enchanting Art of Circus
Anna Abrams, 2009 (Still Moving exhibition)
Mesa Arts Center’s (MAC) kicked off an artistic and acrobatic season
with festival "Ten in One: A Cirque-ish Event" on Sept. 12,
a celebration of the enchanting art of circus.
MAC’s campus was filled with circus-inspired vignettes, including aerial hoop and tight-wire performances, a mythical mermaid performer, contortionists, hand balancing, stilt walkers, jugglers and fire eaters.
Coinciding with the festival was the opening reception of new circus-themed exhibitions in the MCAM:
Still Moving: Imagining the Circus in a New Way
Photographs by Bertil Nilsson
Sept. 12 – Dec. 7, 2014
(see photos at top and below)
The contemporary circus builds on the old traditions of the circus while fusing it with theatre and dance practice. In his photographs, Swedish artist Bertil Nilsson captures the beauty of human form as well as fortitude of these modern day performers.
Ten-in-One
Contemporary Art Goes Circus
Sept. 12, 2014 – Jan. 25, 2015
Ten-in-One, which is a reference to sideshow attractions, focuses on artists whose works embody the circus aesthetic with a contemporary twist. The exhibition features 10 acts (10 artists) in one show.
Circus Today
Pencil Drawings by Mark McDowell
Sept. 12, 2014 – Jan. 4, 2015
A painter, printmaking and fine art book publisher, Arizona artist Mark McDowell has become known for his distinctively graphic focused drawings in colored pencil on birch wood panels. Circus Today features McDowell’s latest body of work, which showcases the classic imagery often associated with circuses.
The Ringmaster
Philip C. Curtis’ Circus Art
Sept. 12 – Nov. 30, 2014
Arizona icon Philip C. Curtis continues to captivate and inspire with his surrealist art. Dubbed the “Magritte of the Old West,” Curtis became known for his metaphoric imagery and elongated Victorian figures in barren desert landscapes. Caged animals, band wagons and parade processions provide a glimpse into the bygone era of the traveling circus.
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Mesa Arts Center
One Main St., Mesa
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Jenny & Sara Haglund, 2011 (Still Moving exhibition)
Charlie Wheeller, 2013 (Still Moving exhibition)
