Mark McGoey ’26.5’s visual art exhibit “Far Out” opened on the evening of Oct. 25 to a warm crowd of friends and faculty. The collection is modest, and each individual work is made all the more memorable for it.
The exhibit toes the line between representation and abstraction; that may be a dragon-lizard-fish you see, or a man made of water playing the trumpet. Whatever your interpretation, these images readily present themselves to the eye as elegant brushstrokes and vibrant colors.
And McGoey’s use of color is magnetic. As I walked past conversations in huddled semi-circles around each painting, it seemed to me that a majority of conversation focused on the ‘bold’ colors, the emotions those colors evoke and what the palette of the collection conveys. Mark was inevitably the victim of the curious spectator’s incessant inquisition (I was also a culprit), though he expertly avoided retreating to clarification and instead let the questions linger and coalesce into a broader mystery. The snack table was also a nice bonus.
The paintings have an incredible depth, as if they were sculpted up into audacious and colorful casts and then flattened onto canvas. It is fun to get lost in the curves and sharp edges, in the scabrous landscapes of paint.
McGoey’s entire effort is inspiring. The existence of these kinds of self-started artistic initiatives are undeniably important to cultivating a landscape that allows for and encourages students of equal talent to produce and showcase their work.
For McGoey, the question of building a more robust foundation for the visual arts is of incredible importance. I had the chance to speak with him and get his thoughts on the issue, and the conversation boiled down to a simple fact: We can do better.
“Middlebury in particular is a huge community of supremely talented people,” he told me. “But there are very few avenues for that talent to be shown.”
Even within the existing infrastructure that allows for this kind of artistic expression, McGoey encountered a few roadblocks on the way to fully realizing his exhibit. He had a difficult time putting together the gallery, as balancing logistics management with academic and social obligations proved to be a demanding task. It was only with the help of the Student Activities Office (SAO) and Director of the Johnson Memorial Building and Manager of the Johnson Gallery, Colin Boyd, that McGoey managed to see it through. McGoey did it to prove to himself and others that it’s possible, and that more students should try it themselves.
“We have a wonderful, vibrant, music community. That’s there and that is amazing, and that’s largely an inspiration for me,” McGoey said. Visual art, he thinks, needs to be part of the regular, consistent and frequent social ecosystem. Think Wednesday Open Mic Party (WOMP) but for sculpting, painting or sketching.
“School support is necessary, but this doesn’t need to be academic,” McGoey said. “In a liberal arts curriculum, everything is supposed to go beyond the classroom.”
But our campus’ current artistic scene is not all so grim, and McGoey was sure not to leave me with that impression. He mentioned the ‘Creating Art Together’ club, which is a great space for students to share and explore modes of self-expression through art. On Nov. 14, the club is hosting a student gallery in Johnson. Work can still be submitted at go/catgallery24.
McGoey also mentioned WRMC’s ‘FM-Phasis’ Zine, a collection of student art submissions including prose, poetry, cartoons, collages and interviews. They have fall and spring editions of the publication, and the fall edition is currently open to submissions.
Mark alluded to the re-emergence of the previously defunct student-led ‘M-Gallery’ which used to be located in the Old Stone Mill building. Mark’s exhibition is the unofficial reinitiation of the M-Gallery, and although he made it clear that the project is still a work in progress, he urges people to keep their eyes peeled for upcoming events associated with the M-Gallery.
McGoey believes that the visual arts scene at Middlebury is headed in the right direction. Urging others to jump on the trend, he encouraged people to stay active and engaged with the artistic environment of the college.
“Inertia is moving that way, so why not hop on the train,” he said.
