After a submission period over the summer that included over 3,600 individual works from 902 local Maine and New England artists, the Portland Museum of Art has assembled a collection of 65 pieces for their annual Maine Biennial celebration opening on Thursday.
Among the artists who made it successfully through the jury selection process this year is longtime USM art professor Michael Shaughnessy, for his large-scale installation work entitled “Cascade, Current and Pool (For the Vanquished Falls of the Presumpscot River).” Despite this being the second time that Shaughnessy has had his work selected for the Biennial, with the first being in the museum’s inaugural exhibition in 1998, the artist retains his enthusiasm for the opportunity for local talent to display their work.
“What I love is the art that I haven’t seen before and getting to see new work,” Shaughnessy said. “The Maine Biennial is great because anyone can get in. It’s not like you have to have a huge resume going in, so it could literally be someone’s first show, and that is pretty exciting.”
Best known for his elaborate hay sculptures, Shaughnessy’s work for this year’s exhibition is sure to be a focal point in the main hall of the museum. His installation for the Biennial, a traditionally closed arrangement of bound together hay, has been enlarged to encompass a wall spanning four floors of the museum with its various organic nest-shaped compositions.
According to the artist, the installation is inspired by the various states a river will manifest itself into during its existence, which is reflected in the various forms the medium takes within the work. “I use hay just like some people use paint,” said the artist. “Some people use metals, some people carve with wood. My material of choice has been hay. It’s just like any other material you use; there is a history and specific way of working with it.”
While this is the second time Shaughnessy has been included in the Biennial, Tyson Jacques — a former student of his — will be making his debut at the exhibition with a selection from his larger collection, “Imperative Series,” entitled “Portrait of My Father.”
In 2005, while attending USM as an undergraduate, Jacques had his first experience with the Biennial and became immediately inspired to have his work selected for the exhibition.
“There was just so much great work at that show and all in one place,” said Jacques. “I thought ‘Wow, I could do this.’ So I set up a couple of personal goals for myself: one was to be in the permanent collection of a museum, and the other was to be part of a retrospective like the Biennial.
“At that point, it might be limiting to say, but I was creating art with those goals specifically in the back of my mind.”
As an exhibition series, the Maine Biennial has grown immensely since its early inception in 1998 and is now regarded as one of the premiere events for contemporary art in the state. The majority of artists included in the series are full-time residents of the state or have spent time studying and exhibiting work in Maine.
After a several month submission period during last summer, a three-person jury met in September to narrow down the thousands of applicants to the final 65 works that are part of the exhibition.