ized the local agricultural community . The vivid , chrome orange and blue capsules embody the citrus crop and the frost that killed it , in a pentagon frame . The Yin and Yang symbol that encircles Change suggests that the blue frost and orange crop compliment each other in a contrary , yet interconnected relationship .
The anxiety felt by members of the Eatonville community during the establishment of I-4 is immortalized in Interstate 4 . The parallel moving arrows and trail of pearlescent bubbles are broken up with a few , thin , black lines dispersed throughout the piece . They look like slight cracks in the highway ’ s foundation , indicating fractures in the Eatonville community after the highway ’ s inception . Given the context of the piece amidst the highway ’ s renovation — offi cially titled the “ Ultimate Improvement Project ”— Interstate 4 gives an almost ominous , jarring warning of how detrimental progress can be to certain communities .
TRANSITion moves this idea forward with the development of the SunRail station in Maitland . Pipeline tunnels of electric blue and orange cover the mustard yellow background map . The painting isn ’ t nearly as chaotic as Interstate 4 , indicating the commuter rail system as a positive contribution to Maitland ’ s economy .
Tomengo ’ s art prompts viewers to dig deeper into the histories of the people and events portrayed . The richness of his works may go underappreciated by those eager solely for surface-level , historical homage . Look a little closer and you ’ ll fi nd a thoughtful , egalitarian perspective on what it truly means to be working class . The Maitland Project shows us who we were , where we are now , and what we can be .
Howardena Pindell , and Lorna Simpson . They take on both personal and universal themes of race by mnemonically marking their works .
Radcliffe Bailey ’ s focus on ancestral history in contemporary society permeates through his work . In Between Two Worlds , a sepia toned photograph of one of Bailey ’ s ancestors is surrounded by contour drawings of boats with hues of red and green with a hint of yellow – all colors associated with Africa . Bailey ’ s use of found material and strata of mixed media highlight the layers of meaning in Between Two Worlds . The scraps of velvet alone create a frame for the photograph and emphasize the faint , cerulean streaks and dark green scratches ( representing trees and roots ) layered underneath , suspending his subject quite literally between two worlds .
Also using texture , color , and layering to create a thread between past and present , Howardena Pindell ’ s Kite Series : Norway has a slightly darker take on race and memory . At fi rst glance , her paper collage kite looks like an innocent memento of childhood gaiety , but the array of mostly red , multicolored dots that frantically cover the kite echo segregated practices . In her statement on the piece , Pindell recalls being given a mug with a red circle underneath it at a root beer stand when she was a child , indicating that a person of color was to use it . Pindell ’ s spin on the red circle is a conscious effort to reimagine it as a positive , rather than unsettling , fi xation .
Faith Ringgold ’ s color lithograph , Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles features eight iconic African American women – including Madam Walker , Harriet Tubman , and Rosa Parks – holding a “ story quilt ” covered in sunfl owers . The scene looks as if the group united in Arles , smack dab in the center of a Vincent van Gogh painting ; van Gogh himself looks on curiously in the upper right corner of the piece .
The same sense of voyeurism is found in Lorna Simpson ’ s Two Pairs ( Binoculars ), where a barrier of text containing fragments of observations breaks up Simpson ’ s two photographs of binoculars . Two Pairs is , itself , a fragment of the artist ’ s fascination with the idea of imagining and observing various scenarios .
As an added bonus to the exhibitions , a station is set up with an interactive typewriter activity so that we , too , are prompted to record and revisit our own untold stories .
Untold Stories will be on display at the Maitland Art Center until September 4 , 2016 .
Detail of Lorna Simpson ’ s Two Pairs ( Binoculars ), photo by Mariana Mora
Similarly , The African American Narrative , a showcase of contemporary African American artists on loan from the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland , navigates the past through the present . The show features works from Faith Ringgold , Radcliffe Bailey ,
Orlando ’ s Art Scene , v . 1.2
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