The title, “Tell Me A Story,” is the blandest part of this exhibition. Countless possible stories unfold, with a cast of thousands. Thousands of insects, that is. Artist Jennifer Angus is known for her monumental installations of preserved bugs, mostly large, exotic (though not endangered) species, which are pinned onto walls in decorative patterns that evoke floral motifs or an old-fashioned, Victorian taste for dense design. These types of pieces are only part of the multi-gallery presentation on view now at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum.
The exhibition begins on the stone staircase, with paper cutouts of bees, grasshoppers and the like pasted on the wall. They are sweet, and prime the viewer for what lies ahead. If you have a fear of insects, now is the time to reconcile with your nerves.
Angus makes it easy to sidestep insectophobia, as her work gleefully, obsessively, celebrates the exotic forms and colors of bugs in her work. Entomologists will be enraptured and likely able to tell more about what all these creatures are. Less insect-savvy souls may fixate on the sculptural and narrative qualities of Angus’s work.
A small figure, presumably made out of beeswax, reappears in a number of the large dollhouses and dioramas throughout the exhibition. With an insect head, the gowned figure is a figurative queen bee accompanied by legions of other insects pinned into place. Their expressive positioning makes an anthropomorphic reading possible. In Magpie Tendencies, the model of a large wooden church, complete with pews, is filled with pious insects. Outside, a funeral ceremony takes place and a teal-colored creature with pale, moth-like wings sits atop a diminutive wax casket, taking on the role of the deceased. It is all the more ironic as the thousands of bugs in the exhibition are like reanimated critters, something of a tableau vivant made from insect death.
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It is a stunning exhibition, given the complexity of Angus’s detailed, imaginative installations. The stories ultimately are left to the imagination, be they sweet as honey or carrying a little sting.
“Tell Me A Story” continues through Feb. 8 at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, 2220 N. Terrace Ave.
