Opened last weekend and currently viewable at Tanja Grunert Lounge at the Princess Beatrix House in Hudson is an exhibition of works by the late sculptor and fabric installation artist Lee Musselman (1956-2013).
“As an entertainer and a gay white man, my lifestyle is borderline sometimes,” said Musselman, who was also an actor (1991’s Johnny’s Brides in Monsterland), in a 2011 artist statement. “My art comes from my own experience. It helps me to heal from situations in my life, to overcome and overcome them and, if I am lucky, to help other people through their own situations. I keep art supplies and found objects and ideas for many years before I use them, take them wherever I go…”
Musselman’s surreal assemblages of outsiders are perhaps reminiscent of the influence of Marcel Duchamp and the Dadaists. “The rawness of old materials – metal, bone, feathers, snakeskin, dolls, doll heads, fabrics, button boxes, tools – just having them around feeds the artistic soul,” said the artist . “I am a storyteller with my art. If by chance what I do is sad in the eyes of the spectator, it is not my goal of creation. My purpose is to offer hope and honor the possibility of change in life… We are all teachers to each other.
The exhibition of works by Lee Musselman is now on view in the Tanja Grunert Salon at Princess Beatrix House in Hudson. See website for more information.