#grain elevators

Structures in rural Montana

WAYFINDING

A Library Gallery exhibition by Dan McAvey 

Exhibition: On display through Tuesday, November 9

Introduction to the exhibition by Dan McAvey:  I was a sailor, once. 2600 miles at sea. Nautical miles, to be precise. I’ve climbed the foremast, the yardarm. Ridden the widowmaker. I’ve navigated by the stars. And the lighthouses.

Some lighthouses warn of danger. Some just tell you where you’re at. After seeing nothing but water for weeks, a light flashing every ten seconds says you’ll set foot in Bermuda by morning.

Lighthouses make a connection; let you know there are humans out there. Humans that will guide your way. 

Along the Mississippi River, you’ll find beacons in unusual places. At the tops of silos and grain elevators are red lights that tell travelers Turn to starboard. Now. But why is a grain elevator a lighthouse? Why is a lighthouse a flour mill?

The fog of this past year has made finding our way a particular challenge. In the confines of quarantine, it is hard to know when we’ll set foot on land again. Through these paintings, I am exploring the unusual places we can find guidance and connection. In a cold, monochromatic image, a red dot can offer connection.

The two most recent paintings, however—the largest of the set—don’t offer such guideposts. In these works, I’m exploring the space between isolation and connection. And the subtle discontent that’s lurking there.

Reading List:

Lost Twin Cities, by Larry Millett

The vital gesture, Franz Kline : Cincinnati Art Museum, by Harry F. Gaugh, and Franz Kline

Milton Avery : the late paintings, by Robert Carleton Hobbs, and Milton Avery

Mark Twain's Mississippi; a pictorial history of America's greatest river, by Tom H. Watkins, and Mark Twain