1275 Minnesota St /
Eleanor Harwood Gallery
The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree
Artists and their children, together.
Eleanor Harwood Gallery is delighted to present a show with Artists, that are parents, alongside their children's artwork.
A group show with: Eleanor Harwood, Persephone Cree-Harwood, Lee Materazzi, Mia Blumenberg, Brook Blumenberg, Kelly Carambula, Quinn Carambula, Tana Quincey Arcega, Michael Arcega, Ramona Arcega, Balint Zsako, Gus Zsako, David Bayus, and Camille Louise Smith.
All children developing in a neurotypical way start making marks. It is our universal first attempt at written language. As Dr. Melodie de Jager writes: “If a child is not aware of a windmill, he does not draw a windmill. If a child doesn’t know fish, he doesn’t draw fish. The world the child lives in and the experiences he has in that world all find their way onto paper in an attempt to make sense, and give meaning to what has happened or is happening at the moment.”
By including works by children that are constantly exposed to the professional artworld; visiting exhibitions, their mother’s gallery, museums, their parent’s studios, homes full of art, we are pulling from an interesting subset of children. These children already have a sophisticated eye and some understand abstract art. A great example is the simplicity of Brook Blumenberg: Pipe Cleaner in Straw, 2021. Brook is six and considers a straw with a pipe cleaner in it, pinned to the wall with a thumbtack, a piece of art. It’s a complete sculpture to her. The home she has grown up in is full of abstract sculptures and her mother’s artwork is full of formal concerns. Lee has involved her children in her practice for years. The kids get pulled into painting her body, helping with props as she composes the sets in her studio for her photographs. Her children have highly evolved senses of what “art” is. They have seen a “fish.”
Children bring a beginner’s mind to mark making. They are not concerned with the originality of their images, whether they are copying someone else’s work, if they are referencing a particular style too specifically. They are freed from those concerns. With a more educated, and sophisticated eye developed from exposure they make works that are quite compelling. The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. The children in the show range in age from five to nine.