Faculty and Staff

Darren Waterston - Uncertain Beauty

03/26/14

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Filthy Lucre, detail

Darren Waterston OS21 resident visiting artist and trustee. Waterston's exhibit Uncertain Beauty at Mass MoCA opened March 8, 2014 and can be viewed through January 2015. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the installation Filthy Lucre, a contemporary re-imagining of James McNeill Whistler's decorative masterpiece Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (1876-77). The installation is accompanied by two galleries featuring a selection of works on wood panel and canvas. Like Filthy Lucre, they express both the grotesque and the beautiful, hinting at utopian fantasies and Arcadian dreams, as well as apocalyptic nightmares.

Filthy Lucre will travel to the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, opening in January 2015 and remaining on view through May 2016. For more on Waterston's work go to darrenwaterston.com.

It's been a whirlwind week, but also a time when I sang the praises of Oxbow to my colleagues. I've been thinking much about how Oxbow is an exemplar of true education. That art centers the curriculum is hardly surprising, and for those of us who work within the traditional educational mold Oxbow offers a gold standard of focused project based learning. Beyond the school's approach to immersive experience are the intangibles which make Oxbow different. The sense of community and of working together, even as each student retained their strong individual presence is palpable. The feeling of warmth and trust between the adults and the nearly adults in the Oxbow community could be felt throughout the campus. The openness of the architecture and interconnectedness of the three studios in themselves speak of the Oxbow philosophy and identity. More than form follows function, the physical attributes of Oxbow have a distinct warmth and invite exploration.

I'm sure that the ongoing challenges of leading and reinventing your school might sometimes keep you from having the time to see Oxbow with the fresh eyes of a visitor, but your steady presence and vision are really visible in every detail. Thank you for inviting me to one of the most profound experiences in my career.

— Ken Rush, Visual Arts Department, Packer Collegiate Institute

The Oxbow School has both a local and national reputation for excellence. Oxbow produces great artists. In its studio, these emerging artists have a community of creative peers who respect one another and foster an expectation to produce thoughtful, sophisticated work.

— Paul Coffey, Vice Provost and Dean of Community Engagement, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Our daughter graduated summa cum laude from NYU with a double major in Studio Art and Art History. She is now working for Calvin Klein. She is contemplating getting a law degree and pursuing a career repatriating art objects. She still keeps in touch with several of her Oxbow classmates and they have regular reunions in Manhattan... I would say that Oxbow was the best semester that any of my four children spent in their cumulative 16 years of high school. Our daughter was the right kid, and for the right kid you do a wonderful job. You changed her life. Thank you.

— John Powley, Parent

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