Slated to open in the Karl and Bertl Arnstein Galleries at the Akron Art Museum on Saturday, June 29, 2019, “Dread & Delight: Fairy Tales in an Anxious World” brings together the work of contemporary artists, Ghada Amer, John Baldessari, Ericka Beckman, Nayland Blake , Ellen Cantor, Ana Teresa Fernández, Natalie Frank, Anna Gaskell, MK Guth, Arturo Herrera, David Hockney, Timothy Horn, Kerry James Marshall, Tom Otterness, Alison Saar, Cindy Sherman, Xaviera Simmons, Kiki Smith, Carrie Mae Weems, Miwa Yanagi and Gil Yefman, who use classical fairy tales (Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood) to address the complexities of our lives today.
Although some embrace the stories’ promises of transformation and happy endings, others plumb the stories’ more troubling elements of poverty, addiction and exploitations of power.
No matter their approach, each of the artists dismantles and reassembles the tales in imaginative ways that provide an opportunity to explore the rich breadth of the fairy tale tradition.
In a 1980s arcade-like video by Ericka Beckman, the story of Cinderella becomes a means to talk about women’s proscribed social roles; Timothy Horn’s nearly life-size carriage made of crystallized candy, it becomes an opportunity to address queer identity and notions of the so called rags-to-riches American dream; Alison Saar’s tar and gold-leaf covered sculpture “Blonde Dreams” is the story of Rapunzel becomes an avenue for reconsidering racial constructions of beauty; and MK Guth’s 1800-foot-long braid “Ties of Protection and Safe Keeping” – it becomes the site for a conversation about values and desires.
Throughout the exhibition, one finds that the artists reminds us that fairy tales have never been merely children’s tales, but rather these age-old stories of wonder are powerful tools for making sense of life’s stark and often dark realities.
‘Dread & Delight’ is accompanied by a scholarly publication charting five decades of fairy tales in the visual arts and featuring a new work of fairy tale fiction by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link.
For more information, see: www.akronartmuseum.org.