Shelter: Selections from the Permanent Collection
Shelter is a term that is often associated with concepts of protection and the structures that provide safety from the elements. The most iconic form that embodies this concept of protection is the house, and more often than not this object is depicted as a pitched roof structure typical of homes in the east and Midwest. The variety of architectural styles of houses and buildings in the Southwest expand on this theme to include the abundant flat roofed adobe and Mission-style structures that define the region, conjuring a similar feeling of protection by those familiar with them.
Often serving as metaphors for the body, and the container of the soul, shelters take the form of churches, houses, barns, buildings that function as places of work, and structures that protect our possessions. The myriad forms in which we live, work, pray, and amass our possessions increasingly defines us as individuals and the society in which we live. Noted French philosopher Gaston Bachelard believes that the house is considered our own special corner of the world and our first universe. As he explains in his book, The Poetics of Space, “In the life of a man, the house thrusts aside contingencies, its councils of continuity are uncasing. Without it, man would be a dispersed being. It maintains him through the storms of the heavens and through those of life. It is body and soul.”
With the flurry of devastating hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, the idea of shelter takes on a poignant resonance. The importance of shelter has become intrinsically linked with self-reliance and emotional stability. What is “home” becomes an important issue to consider when the physical manifestation of home is suddenly gone. The works in this exhibition have been selected for their iconographic representations of dwellings and other architectural structures that house, protect, and shelter the body and the soul and the things we hold dear. These structures serve as symbols for ourselves, our sense of security, our religions, our livelihood, and our sense of stability.
