“American’s Who Tell The Truth” An Exhibit By Robert Shetterly

We thought it would be a good transition from work to taking the weekend off to going to the Albany Institute of History and Art.   It was the last weekend of the Exhibit Enchanting Treads: The Art of Salley Mavor.

Several people had told me about Mavor’s work and I didn’t want to miss it.    Her three dimensional embroideries  were like pages from a Children’s book.  They were beautifully made, each one telling a little story.

But the ones that spoke to me most were a small collection of insects. I think because I often see insects with their shiny intricate wings and wiry bodies, like small sculptures.

What Jon and I didn’t expect was to be so moved by the paintings of Robert Shetterly.  The exhibit is called American’s Who Tell The Truth.  Shetterly painted Americans both contemporary and from the past who “exemplify courageous citizenship and democratic ideas.”

The paintings are on wood panels.  They are warm and inviting, both in color and content. The person’s name and a quote by them is scratched into the paint.

I found the paintings surprising visceral.  Each one pulled me in.  I wanted to know these people more, I wanted to hear what they had to say.  I wanted to hug them.  The paintings were all the same size and style, but all so individual at the same time.

And walking from gallery to gallery, being in their presence, felt almost sacred.

It was the antithesis of the current administrations values, beliefs and idea of democracy.

A reminder that there is still so much good in the world and that it is people, it is us, who make the difference.

“Americans Who Tell the Truth has tried to be a lantern that throws its light forward and back—knowing the truth of the past’s struggles for justice is essential to seeing clearly the obstacles and possibilities in the future.” —Robert Shetterly