Artists Have 2020 Vision

The buildings in the middle are New Haven’s downtown, there’s no doubt about it. But now the downtown has become an island unto itself, floating off into a gray sky, trailing vines and tree roots as it rises. Carry Us Away Again, artist Janet Warner’s portrait of the Elm City, feels weighty in one sense — it’s New Haven as sanctuary city, New Haven as an oasis. But there’s also no denying the fun in the image, its surreal playfulness.

That combination runs rampant throughout ​“2020,” Kehler Liddell’s latest show — running through May 26 — which challenged 47 artists to take that titular number and tell us what it meant to them.

For many of the artists (as for many Americans), 2020 was an inherently political number, the year of the upcoming presidential election. So Jessica Zamachaj made plates that took aim at President Trump’s border wall policy. Michael Quirk used black and white silhouetted illustrations to lampoon the strange bromance between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Ricardo A. Dominguez lamented how the nation lost its dignity when certain policies have stripped human beings of theirs. Lisa Toto’s mixed-media pieces, made from old watercolor sets, take on gun violence, immigration, and class warfare in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Marsha Borden makes use of a document from her childhood that has only grown more resonant with age. At the bottom of the frame of Perhaps In My Lifetime is a portrait of President Gerald Ford and his family. Above it is a letter to Borden dated May 1975, from Marba S. Perrott, then First Lady Betty Ford’s director of correspondence.

“Dear Marsha,” it reads. ​“Thank you for writing to ask Mrs. Ford about when she thinks a woman will become President. You were thoughtful to let the First Lady know of your interest in women’s role in government.” The letter continues: ​“Although the Constitution has always allowed a woman to become President, it would be difficult to speculate about just when this might occur. As you know, women are becoming increasingly involved in governing through elective and appointive positions. Perhaps in your lifetime a woman will hold our nation’s highest office.” The title of Borden’s piece conveys all the hope and frustration that, 44 years later, we’re still waiting.

Other artists in the show ran with the association of the numbers 2020 with perfect eyesight. Eric March used it to connect the show’s theme to a painting full of energy and whimsy.

Photographer Hank Paper trained his eye for symmetry and echoes on a tourist pretty much striking the same iconic pose as Lady Liberty herself to take a picture of the Statue of Liberty from a boat in New York Harbor.

And a few artists use their art to move beyond what we can traditionally see, as Barbara Phoenix’s My Eye Is Not Blind.

Phoenix’s piece and the kaleidoscopic Lens Unbound by Hillary Opperman, in effect, use the show’s numeric prompt to give us perfect vision into their current artistic practice — and maybe even a glimpse as to where they’re headed, along with everyone else in our fair, floating city.

“2020” runs at Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., through May 26. Visit the gallery’s website for hours and more information.