In a show at And Gallery in Saint Paul, work of deaf artists is full of hands, emerging from surfaces, on heads like antlers, floating out of heads like moths, preceding a woman floating down a stream in Susan Dupor's painting "Stream of Consciousness." This is work from a sensibility, a set of priorities, that most viewers won't share initially. It gives outsiders a window into a different world. This is a very generous show.
In structure, it is a model. Wednesday, Marian Pawlenty came to give awards to the k-12 artists who had won a contest. Susan Dupor, a major figure in deaf art, was there to help pass out prizes and to talk about her early work and development. The show has mature work on the walls and the student prizewinners in the center. It is up until May in the gallery at 526 Selby, just east of Dale. You go through a hair salon to reach the gallery.
I have seldom seen anything done so well.
To see "Stream of Consciousness" by Susan Dupor, click on this link: http://www.geocities.com/duporart/html/gallery/recentworks/stream.html