Peter Morgan

(Almost) Good Enough to Eat

Exhibition schedule: Penn State Abington Art Gallery, 116 Woodland Building, October 23 – December 15, 2017.

 

Peter Morgan’s exhibition (Almost) Good Enough to Eat, which opened at the new Penn State Abington Art Gallery, was astonishingly delicious. I would not recommend anyone to visit it in a state of being hungry. Beautifully glazed jelly doughnuts, melted cheese atop nacho chips, sweet waffles stacked on top of each other will make a spectator crave for food (almost) immediately. The variety of colors and forms, unusual compositions involving wildlife, and imaginary tastes that people can sense right away, make this exhibition especially interesting and almost childlike attractive. However, after spending more time in the gallery and analyzing these pieces, Morgan’s exhibition seems to demonstrate quite a challenging intellect which creates “connection between often seemingly disparate topics” (from Peter Morgan’s Artist’s Statement).

The gallery has total of six ceramic sculptures. Five of them are standing on the same height pedestals, and one central hotdog piece Voyage of the H.M.S. Frankfurter stands on the higher shelve. All six pieces are put apart from each other, whereas at the same time one makes a whole. The sculptures depict funny composed wildlife (except for the hotdog piece) with a food incorporated as a landscape.

 

For me, the nature of this exhibition reflects Morgan’s vision and understanding of the world which adds a touch to a whole picture. The first experience provided by this exhibition is some kind of superficiality and childishness. Perhaps, from the first glance, Morgan’s intentions were to create something that people have never seen before. But after careful observation, a spectator may consider that the author questions existential aspects in a deeper level. Unlike Jeff Koons, the author is evoking humor successfully. Through the use of puns and analogies, Morgan combines incompatible things both in context and scale.

“My objects are often archetypal depictions focusing on our idealized understandings and desires of the subject, rather than their actuality. I think of my sculptures being collaged from an encyclopedia, a place where, in theory, all the information in the world is kept in a concise, ideal, and easy-to-read format. My pieces illustrate and investigate what we know and how we know it, through an exploration and celebration of cultural mythologies. Through my selection of topics, I create a sense of place and time through which the viewer may enter the work, physically and/or psychologically.”  (www.artsmagazine.info)

 

In the work called The Hypothetical Prehistoric Giant Wolverine Battling a Polar Bear Over a Deal Beluga Whale, on top of a Glazed Huckleberry Jelly Doughnut, for instance, Morgan depicts Arctic wildlife standing on the beautiful colorful ceramic doughnut. Even though the name of the work directly describes what is going on, I feel that this piece could warn people about the global warming and other ecological interactions of the Arctic Ocean on a huge scale. Perhaps, it reminds of a human being on the top of the food chain or simply of celebration a carnivorous lifestyle and how culture drove human evolution in general.

To sum up, the exhibition (Almost) Good Enough to Eat by Peter Morgan, provides once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the dolphin jumping out of macaroni and cheese, cargo ship carrying a giant hotdog, and other easy-to-look-at-sculptures. In general, the exhibition implies the author’s intention to represent the illustration of cultural mythology. Morgan’s skilled craftsmanship, playfulness, and intricate intellectual clues create a beautiful absurd, which I truly enjoyed to observe.

 

WORK CITED

“(Almost) Good Enough to Eat”. Woodland Gallery. Penn State Abington College. 1600 Woodland Rd, Abington, PA 19001. 23 Oct. – 15 Dec. 2017.

Morgan, Peter. “Here Is My Show Here.” Peter Morgan, 2017, www.petergmorgan.com/here-is-my-show-here/.

Wampler, Angela. “‘Color Me Bad’ — Peter Morgan.” A! Magazine for the Arts, 29 Feb. 2012, www.artsmagazine.info/articles.php?view=detail&id=2012022621063035196.