As the children were settling down to eat lunch Tait and Louis were engaged in conversation, pointing to a photograph on the wall of Studio Yellow. The photographs were from Studio Yellow visits to the Hot Mess Formalism exhibit.
Tait – That one, that’s the one?
Yes, replied Louis, that’s the one I’m looking at too.
What are you looking at?
Louis – The picture in the museum…
What is the picture of?
Tait – The colors hanging down.
Do you know the name of the artist who made it?
Tait – Sheila. Sheila…
Louis – Sheila Pepe
Tait – She’s an artist, she makes sculptures, that one and the one outside near the road.
Did Tait meant the three colorful works by Aaron Curry or Pasture Grass by Nancy Winship Milliken which perhaps reminded him of the fiber in Sheila Pepe’s work?
What is it that makes you think she made the one outside too?
Tait – The colors
Louis – It is the same colors, red and blue.
Though Sheila Pepe is not the artist behind the works outside Tait and Louis were using characteristics they recognized in her work (in this case the colors) to notice similarities with the outdoor sculptures. Though Hot Mess Formalism is leaving the museum, perhaps we can explore the two pieces more deeply to see how else they are similar and how they may differ to expand upon this brief lunch time conversation.
