"My paintings tell stories. They are the stories of people who
feel disconnected and powerless. They are stories I have heard at work,
or in the newspaper, on TV., or from friends. You have heard these stories
too. I try to repeat them as directly and honestly as I can. It somehow
seems important to do this." -- Bruce Burris
Bruce Burris is a Delaware native who moved to Lexington about five
years ago. His "Kentuckycycle" -- an ever-changing art installation
also known as "DIDWEDOTHISTOOYEW" -- deals with issues of cultural
identity. In particular, Burris zeroes in on the cultural identity associated
with Kentucky's Appalachian region -- the eastern section of the state
through which the Appalachian mountain range runs.
"Kentuckycycle" is a barrage of images and words: drunken
mountain men holding fishing poles and playing fiddles, fat hags with rags
wrapped around their heads smoking corncob pipes and holding shotguns,
and big-breasted Daisy Mae types posing and posturing.
The show is heavy on irony. The twist is that Burris doesn't just go
after the sick minds that produce these "emblems of Appalachian culture,"
as he says, he also points a finger at the people who find humor in such
depictions.
"Kentuckycycle" is a blatant parody that raises questions
such as why Appalachians are pictured as different from the rest of Kentucky's
People and why Appalachia is thought of as a world apart from the one in
which the rest of us live.
Appalachian people are generally considered disadvantaged, isolated
and somehow stuck in another era. Burris says that this conception --Appalachians
being like Jed Clampett's unlucky cousins -- underlies marketing ploys,
research, journalism, scholarly study and proposed solutions to social,
economic and political problems.
His work presents the stereotype, in all of its crude glory, with all
of its ramifications, as an impetus to make you, the viewer, ask questions
based on your reactions to the work. Are you repulsed by the stereotyping
or do you find it humorous. Does it make you feel superior, ashamed, or
unmoved? Do you find it curious or take it seriously as a detrimental thing?
If you are from Appalachia, do you identify with the character types shown?
If you are not from Appalachia, do you believe a population like the one
depicted in this exhibition really exists or ever did exist?
David Minton is the Kentucky corresponding editor for
"dialogue." The complete article appears in "dialogue"
Sept/Oct 1997.
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