Age is just a number.
That’s a lovely sentiment, but in many facets of life it is simply untrue. Ageism — in workplaces, health care systems and even the world of the arts — persists. It’s not so much what people think about their own age, but how others interpret what age means.
The Chandler Gallery is addressing ageism head-on in “Changing Seasons: Innovations After 70,” on display through Nov. 6. It is the first exhibit in a series that will address unconscious biases.
The Chandler Gallery is located at 71 N. Main St. in Randolph. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday ans noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.
“I think as a woman, artist or not, you become more invisible as you age, and that might include how much you’re listened to or how much attention is paid to your creating or thinking,” said Judith Lerner, a Newbury, Vt.-based landscape artist who works with watercolor gouache and giclée prints, who has work in the exhibit. “I don’t think that we should assume that the vision in art comes from anything other than your experience and your awareness and your imagination which can show up at age 6 or at 106.”
The art world, explained Kirstin Quick, has a habit of focusing on trying to find the next best thing. That too often equates to youth.
“It’s kind of like an unspoken thing that in art, only youth has a voice, and older people are stuck in a rut and don’t know what’s going on in the world,” said Quick, a Randolph-based artist who curated the exhibit along with Rebbie Carleton.
Older artists might be defined outwardly by the type of work they’ve done for most of their careers and stereotyped as a result. But older artists can still very much be innovators and might feel more empowered to take risks as they age.
“I so admire the theme of the exhibit, that is the awareness that people over 70 are still growing,” Lerner said. “The fact that you’re experiencing your vision, and your analysis and your perception would grow as you get older seems to make sense to me and the endorsement of that I think is a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
When viewers are in a gallery, they’re not always aware of the age of the people whose art they’re seeing. They might not have any biographical information at all, and that’s the way it should be.
“I don’t think of age as a restriction for the artist, and so perhaps that should be true for the audience as well,” Lerner said.
For example, someone who is looking at a painting by Vincent Van Gogh might bring to mind the story of how he cut off his ear.
“It’s very likely that when people see that gorgeous painting they first think about the ear and then they think about the painting,” Lerner said.
As a young artist living in Paris, Rachi Farrow said she was turned away from galleries and told to come back when she was older and had more experience.
“No one’s telling me I should get older now,” said Farrow, 76, who has a gallery space in downtown Randolph.
She said she hasn’t experienced ageism as she has gotten older. Another “ism” has impacted her much more.
“As a female artist, I’ve experienced tons of sexism,” Farrow said. “It’s always going to exist, unless it’s a female gallery owner, there’s just so much sexism.”
So Farrow decided to take matters into her own hands. She sells and shows her work directly to viewers through her gallery. At her home in Florida, Farrow sets up her art on her lawn and invites people over to see it.
“For the most part, I don’t care to or want to deal with galleries,” said Farrow, who works in a variety of paints, sculptures and drawing and focuses on humans’ destruction of the environment. “I do it all myself and maybe that’s a privilege of being older, that I can do that.”
Ria Blaas, Alexandra Bottinelli, Paul Calter, Bob Eddy, Joan Feierabend, Phil Godenschwager, Margaret Kannenstein, Ellen Langtree, Jim Robinson, and Martha Von Ammon also have work in the show. There is sculpture, pottery and stained glass, in addition to other media.
“Everyone said, ‘I’m cool with being older and being an artist. It’s something I can be proud of,’ ” Quick said. “We wanted to take it out of this pocket of ‘This is what seniors do.’ This is a show of professional artists who are seniors.”
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
