[Photo of Milan, 1880]
One of the most meaningful works at the Deaf Artists Exhibit
will be this oil on canvas done by Mary J. Thornley in 1994. Titled " Milan, 1880," it mocks the Milan Conference of 1880, which banned the use of sign language. Thornley got the idea for the design from Francisco
da Goya's "Thrid of May, 1808."
A 19" x 25" poster of this painting will be for sale at the Deaf Studies IV Conference for $12. The Conference will be held April 27-30, 1995, at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in Woburn,
MA.
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"Family Dog," by Susan "Vito" Dupor, one of the art works that was exhibited at the Deaf Artists Exhibit: A Perspective of Deaf Culture Through Art, in Haverhill, Massachusetts during
the month of September 1993 proved to be very popular with both Deaf and Hearing people.
The painting was expressive of feelings typical to isolated Deaf children living with non-signing hearing families. The
face of the child can be seen clearly, but faces of other members of the family are blurred, and the painting likens the experience of lipreading to the experience of viewing a TV program disrupted by static. The
deaf child, who wears hearing aids, is equated with a family pet that is patted on the head while being told "Good girl, good girl."
If you missed the 1993 exhibition, you will have another chance to see this picture
at the Deaf Artists Exhibit at the Deaf Studies IV Conference at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Woburn, MA on April 27-30, 1995.
At the Deaf Studies Conference IV, which celebrates deaf culture, language and
history, and the Deaf Community, many things are brought together through art by Deaf artists whose works portray the Deaf experience, even though only a small percentage of the works created by Deaf artists have
qualities of De' VIA (Deaf View/Image Art).
De'VIA can be identified by formal elements such as Deaf artists' possible tendency to use contrasting colors and values, intense colors or contrasting
textures. It may also include a centralized focus, with exaggeration or emphasis on facial features, especially the eyes, mouths and ears, as well as the hands (De'VIA Manifesto, May 1989). The art exhibit
will offer us opportunities for scholarly study to see how Deaf artists' works at the Deaf Artists Exhibit compare to the De'VIA Manifesto.
Some of the paintings in the exhibition celebrate Deaf culture, and
while some do so by means of humor, there is no mistaking the anger in other works that concern the historical oppression of ASL and Deaf people. One good example of the latter is "Milan, 1880", a work by Mary J.
Thornley, a Canadian Deaf artist living in Vancouver, BC, which portrays ASL being shot by a firing squad that represents the International Conference on the Education of the Deaf, which in its 1880 meeting in Milan
effectively banned the use of Sign Language in schools for the deaf and in its place mandated the practice of "oralism" or teaching deaf children to speak and lipread.
This painting is very similar a work by Francisco
de Goya (who became deaf late in life), titled "The Third of May, 1808". Goya's work portrays the brutal repression of Spanish patriots by Bonapartist French troops. Thornley artfully combines two historical
themes into one painting, and viewers (maybe with a little explanation) will understand the cultural implications behind the painting. Both hearing and Deaf people can learn much about deaf culture and history
through this picture.
Another deaf artist, Betty G. Miller, of Washington, D.C., portrays the continuing struggle between the deaf and the medical communities on the issue of cochlear implants. Her "Untitled,
1993" is a portrait of a person, almost certainly deaf, with an enlarged ear and surrounded by cochleas, hearing aids, and other devices. The wires running through the hands is the artist's way of saying that one
must choose between the pathological approach and one's deaf Identity.
A new comer to this year's exhibit, Elizabeth Morris, of Dallas, Texas also brings up similar opinions about the issue in a poster format,
connecting Cochlear Implants with "wrong way" road signs at the bottom of a picture of a highway with cochleas floating in the sky.
This art exhibition will present many different perspectives on Deaf Culture
from seven North American Deaf artists, all of whom have had professional art training.
Both Deaf and Hearing people are welcome to share this rare opportunity to appreciate art closely relating to the deaf
experience. Deaf guides will conduct tours of the exhibition, explaining the historical or cultural features of each picture.
The Deaf Artists' Exhibit will be open to the public on the evening of
Friday, April 28, for $10 at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel, Woburn, Massachusetts. The ticket will also include admission to the evening's entertainment, Mary Beth, "True Business Deaf,". For more
information about the exhibit or the conference, call the Gallaudet University Regional Center, 508-374-3701, TTY/V.
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[Photo of Family Dog]
Susan "Vito" Dupor's Family Dog," 1991, an acrylic.
