The William Wegman exhibition at Masterworks is surprising. At least I was surprised.

I have long known of Wegman’s Weimaraner (dog breed) photographs, and recognise their humour and sophistication, but I had no knowledge of his postcard art, or his connection to Bermuda.

If Wegman’s postcard art was surprising to me, who has some knowledge of the goings-on in the art world, I suspect that for the general public William Wegman will be unknown. For them Wegman’s Masterworks exhibition will be more than surprising.

But what is postcard art? These are paintings in which Wegman utilises picture postcards as a central theme in a painting, that is then expanded into a larger composition often allowing certain aspects in the postcard to suggest the direction of the painting.

For those not in the know, however, Wegman is an internationally celebrated American multimedia artist, who originally hails from New England. He was born on December 2, 1943 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which makes him just shy of 80 years old. I emphasise this because he looks amazingly youthful. His facial lines are in reality laugh lines.

I met Wegman briefly when he was recently in Bermuda for his exhibition opening and a book signing. His book, has the same title as that of the exhibition, Around Bermuda. It was published by Masterworks in conjunction with his exhibition. In his time Wegman has produced some 40 books, including about 20 children’s books.

Wegman attended the Massachusetts College of Art where he earned a BFA degree with an emphasis in painting. His MFA is from the University of Illinois. Although always a painter, he is known as a conceptual artist, as well as a photographer and videographer.

He has had a notably impressive career, with exhibitions too numerous for me to cite in this review, but with many being held in renowned galleries and museums, I wondered just how he has found the time and energy to accomplish so much. However, I understand that he has employed a team of assistants that has enabled this success.

Some may find the use of assistants by artists as being less than “kosher”, but going back to at least the Renaissance or possibly earlier, many successful artists have employed assistants. Today it is an accepted and standard practice.

The exhibition title, Around Bermuda, is also the title of the show’s largest painting, the exhibition’s centrepiece. The painting, Around Bermuda, is composed of circles within circles and then more circles, 34 of which are postcard paintings in round vignettes depicting aspects of Bermuda’s waterscapes. The dominant colours, appropriately enough, are a variety of blues and turquoise. Additional circles contain colourful, geometric designs intimating pinwheels, beach umbrellas or beach balls.

The painting’s perimeter frames the composition in blue, alluding to the fact that Bermuda is surrounded by the blue Atlantic. Altogether, it's a “rhapsody in blue”.

Considering the painting’s title, plus the fact that the composition is dominated by circles, a play on words is suggested; around, round, surround.

This is one happy painting.

The exhibition was first conceived by Julie Sylvester and Mandy Cawthorne Argento and curated by Julie Sylvester, along with associate curators, Jasmine Lee and Sara Thom. The exhibition was generously funded by Sue Judah through the RDJ Foundation.

It is notable that Ms Sylvester was responsible for inviting Wegman to Bermuda for his first visit back in the year 2000. Its unlikely that there would be such an exhibition as Around Bermuda without that visit.

The artist’s approach to art making is one of playfulness, of play as exploration and as experimentation. Playing around in art making is an important part of the creative process and in the case of Wegman, that includes playing with words, as with certain catchy titles.

It has been said that Wegman plays down mastery in his art making. That may be true, but what is evident is that his paintings are painterly; meaning his brushstrokes are obvious. He has made no attempt to hide them.

William Wegman began making postcard art as early as the 1990s and certainly his early Bermuda postcard creations were some of his earlier use of postcards in art.

Wegman’s utilisation of postcards, however, can be quite varied and generally invoke a variety of styles, such as surrealism, cubism etc. His paintings are underpinned by his knowledge of art history.

Take for example, his postcard painting entitled St George’s Development. The postcard which is placed in the middle of the composition depicts a view as seen from above the town probably from Fort George. It is a cubist inspired view that Wegman develops into an even larger cubist/futurist composition, provoking thoughts of future overdevelopment.

Twinned with this painting is a watercolour from the Masterwork’s collection by Charles Demuth called Architecture – Red House, 1917. It too is a cubist view of Bermudian architecture.

Wegman’s Quarry Squared is another cubist composition and just as stacked architecture on hillsides evoke cubism, so does a Bermuda stone quarry. Notice also his title’s allusion to mathematics, plus the obvious fact that quarrymen square their blocks, even cube them.

Quarry Squared is likewise twined with a rare painting by a now lesser known artist, F. Kenwood Giles. Its title is: Stone Cutting, 1950. Giles, after a successful artistic career in the UK, settled in Bermuda in1950 and at that time was active in the Bermuda art scene but sadly, is now largely forgotten.

There are two Wegman postcard works that make reference to surrealism. The first is Large Tree. Its postcard depicts the large rubber tree that was, until recently located at the front of Par-La Ville (Public Library). Just weeks ago it was cut down as it was thought to be dangerous. Wegman extends the tree’s branches in tangled serpentine lines that to me recalls the Greek mythological character Medusa, whose hair was exchanged for a nest of vipers.

The second work is Calabash Tree on Road to the Peak. As a child, I spent many hours climbing its branches, so I know it well. As for the Peak; it is an edifice built by my grandfather as a lookout tower for tourists. Apparently they would ride donkeys up to the Peak from the hotel in Flatts. The Peak is located on Bermuda’s highest point at 259 feet. It has sweeping views over Harrington Sound, Flatts Village and the entire East End, as well as the very west end. Today the Peak is used as a communication tower.

Considering that this scene, in reality is manicured, portraying the Calabash tree as broken down, with trash scatter around, is seemingly a surreal act.

Accompanying these two paintings is Georgia O’Keefe’s drawing, Banyan Tree which is also from the Masterworks’ Collection.

There is one more painting in this show that I want to consider. Its title is Coral Corral. The postcard pictures a batch of bleached coral that had been broken off from the reefs and probably was for sale to tourists. In the picture, Wegman has painted a fence around the coral, hence the title. Note the word play. Obviously back in the day, we were less concerned about environmental matters.

There are 26 artworks in this exhibition, but space constraints allow me to review only a select few. There are many other gems on show awaiting your inspection.

Around Bermuda is an exhibition that requires time and thought. Underpinning what on first viewing appears to be a playful, even light-hearted exhibition are profound concerns, both socially and environmentally. I am uncertain as to what the artist’s intentions really were, nevertheless, art has a way of reflecting a society’s concerns, even if artists are not always completely aware of all its implications. Somehow, its in the air. Anyhow, go and see the show. One can appreciate and enjoy it on multiple levels. It continues through November 25, 2023.

The Masterworks Museum is open week days and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. The museum is located in the Botanical Gardens. Admission is $10. It’s free to members and children under 12.