Melville’s Existential Diner
Marcela Silva and Lizbeth Mitty
April 2021
. MELVILLE’S EXISTENTIAL DINER
Ahab goes fishing in Walden’s Pond
his spool is fully cast, a harpoon is overkill for steelhead trout but he’s not to be upstaged by something so technical; after all when trout fishing in america steelhead trout are used to make buildings, trains and tunnels. not just a meal that comes clean from the river, following the clear flowing circles of life, but a combative desire to wrestle the angels into the dirt and devour them. only to yell “this is man - i am the conqueror” when wrapped in our own ropes and dragged deep into the waters.
Lizbeth Mitty casts her brush hook line and sinker deep into the maw of the largest fearsome predators of the landscape tradition and lands joyful festivals of unbelievable bounty. a feast for the eyes, a painter of mesmerizing technical virtuosity she creates hope for humanity.
Marcela Silva’s paintings grew out of concern due to the midwestern farmers draining the Ogallala aquifer for irrigation. her pieces give a nod to Emerson & Thoreau’s Walden Pond. Melville wrote most of Moby Dick in the shadow of those mountains in her painting - hence the whaling boat - motioning the viewer eastward to that ancient glaciated Massachusetts range.
we are all welcome to dine at the feast we choose to have prepared for us.
do we choose to enter into combat with nature for our future or do we choose to harmoniously partner and preserve?
curated by William Norton
-the gallery LTD-(PeepShow Space)
37 North 15th Street
Williamsburg Brooklyn 11222
(corner of Gem Street)
Opening Friday April 2, 2021 from 6-9 PM
Saturdays and Sundays 12-6 pm
Lizbeth Mitty:
@lizbethmitty
Marcela Silva
