MASS MoCA

Heaven or Hell

by Kate Driscoll

Oh no! The exhibit that houses this art will be on display until January 2015! So, plenty of time then. The piece is by Darren Waterston, and is currently located in the Mass MoCA. The people that would find this piece of art intriguing have to love to look at artwork from all different angles to fully comprehend the art.

Since 1990s, Darren Waterston shows his artwork in the U.S. and abroad. He earned his BFA at the Otis Art Institute in L.A., California. Waterston continued with his development in Germany at the Akademia der Kunst. He is a nationally recognized artist because of the many artwork that has been displayed in many states of the U.S. Waterston lives in New York City presently.

This exhibit that this piece of artwork was found in was the Uncertain Beauty by Darren Waterston. The main focus of the exhibit was not the piece, but instead Filthy Lucre also by Waterston. The art was found in an assorted group of paper artwork. The colors used in this piece include black, white and gray. The splotches of black in the corner of the drawing is unclear as to why it is there. But, if looked at from one angle the top of the paper says “Utopia,” along with a fountain and light gray colors and seems to be in the clouds. Although, if it is analyzed in the opposite direction the top or the bottom in this case says “Infernos” as in hell. From this upside down vantage point, this piece looks darker and more sinister in comparison to the “Utopia” side, and is underground unlike utopia with it on its cloud.

It is believed that this piece symbolizes the flip between heaven and hell due to the angles needed to see either to the analyzer of the art. The colors also support this idea further because it seems darker on the hell than the heaven side.