DENNIS – The Cape Cod Museum of Art’s premier summer exhibition pays homage to the whaling culture of the Cape and the 200th anniversary of the birth of author Herman Melville.
Last week, the museum unveiled “Moby Dick: Inspired Visions”, a collection of artwork by New Bedford artist Peter Michael Martin.
The exhibition features twenty-four pieces inspired by the great novel, including works never before exhibited, such as a life-size kinetic wall sculpture of a Jonah being consumed by a whale.
Martin uses a recurring visual vocabulary, with highly contrasting, black-on-white, cut paper or cut Tyvek silhouettes.
Inspired during a chance meeting with a Melville lecturer seven years ago, Martin later learned that one of his ancestor’s was buried at sea after being crushed by a heavy slab of whale blubber while working as a crewman on a whaling ship out of New Bedford at the age of 25.
“I am an artist and educator and I am on a journey,” says Martin.
“My collection is not about illustrating Melville’s story but about how it made me think, we all gather visual images about places we are going to go, people we will meet, and stories that we read or hear, with my art I hope to present the viewer with the opportunity to make some of their own personal connections.”
Martin maintains a studio in New Bedford and lives in Mattapoisett, however he has deep roots on the Cape as he spent 35 years working in the Dennis-Yarmouth and Mattapoisett school systems as a Special Education Teacher.
He officially retired from teaching in 2009 to pursue a full-time career as an artist.
Sponsored by the Wequasset Resort and Gold Club, “Moby Dick: Inspired Visions” will be on exhibition at the Cape Cod Museum of Art until August 25th.
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