June 12, 2001 – September 6, 2001 M. L. Van Nice A Failure of Letters

Van Nice offers a multifaceted examination of the relationships among word, image and knowledge. The exhibition opens with a series of invented archaeological specimens, made scientific through the appended whimsical label text. These fictions lead us to question our acceptance of the written word as clarification of what is clearly seen, a line of inquiry that continues with images of the natural world, such as Fish Gotta Swim.

In the third section, Unnaturalities, The Tale of Tatterntell explores the power of language bereft of meaning, as we are swept up in mood of a fable, even as individual words and syntax are non-sensical. The antiquated machine that produces the implicitly scholarly Journal of Ineffable Notions serves as an historical marker of the transformation of nonsense into commodity.

But even if words lend themselves to misuse and abuse, they retain the power to launch the imaginations on wondrous voyages. In "Writer and Reader" the reader's chair transforms itself into a makeshift boat that penetrates the surface of language to open our view to realms otherwise beyond our limits.

An opening reception will be held from 7:00 to 8:00 pm on June 12, 2001

M. L. Van Nice Images

Fish Gotta Swim (detail), 1992
Mixed media.

In my Father's house are many chair, 1992
One of several mistakes attributed to Oelfd, incompetent scribe to the Bishop of Northumbria, 9th c. Gold leaf, mylar, Caran d'Ache.

Catch at Semilabas, 1992.
Dried fish, acrylic paint, Krylon, graphite, ink, soft pastels, and Caran d'Ache.

Mirabolo Frog-hide, 1996.
Gold leaf, mylar, Caran d'Ache.

A Failure of Letters Press Release