Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Preview 2024

It's that time of year for The Minnesota State Fair!

Last Tuesday I attended the Fine Arts Preview night, the unstated theme of this year’s exhibition seemed to be ‘Play it safe.’ Not much politics, not many farm animals (although plenty of cute cats and dogs) and lots of (mostly boring) wildlife imagery. Textiles and fabrics are always quirky but I was not that impressed, ceramics and glass left me unmoved as well. There were highlights, of course, as well as the continuing trend of the merging of painting and photography, as exemplified* by this pairing:

Shelly Mosman: Grace                                                 Margo Selski: Little Miss Sisyphus

Old school photography was scarce, but Will Agar’s Spot Cafe, Oregon upheld traditional film imaging:

Brian Wagner’s lithograph Of Ill Omens and Clipped Wings (the theme echoed in his tattoos) was sublime:

The always reliable Mark Alan Peterson had another mind-boggling cut-paper collage, Manhattan Elegy, made only from old magazines, scissors, magic markers, and paste:

Sculpture always has strong Surrealist aspects, this year’s show was no exception:

Message of Lament for a Blue Planet, Gary Carlson

What was encouraging was seeing more young people in attendance and exhibiting, we geezers will have to be replaced sometime!

You can view the whole show here. *Mosman’s is photography, Selski’s is a painting