Whether beautiful, ugly or creepy, hundreds of masks, many of mysterious origin, are the focus of a special art gallery display.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published June 27, 2003
DUNEDIN - Ghoulish death masks that once covered the faces of corpses give Judy Vienneau the creeps.
So when she designed her collection, she hung up festive ceremonial and carnival masks instead.
Hundreds of them line the cheery front room inside her yellow clapboard gallery, soulless faces that stare at you from fresh white walls.
It's like you're being watched.
And maybe in a way, you are.
"We get certain vibes from them," said Vienneau, staring at a Hawaiian mask. "I think they retain a certain energy from the person who wore them."
If she's right, there is an awful lot of energy in the front room of her shop, Snooty Judy's Fine Art Gallery in Dunedin. The show is called "Masks - Collectible and Contemporary" and is on display through July 19.
There are wooden masks, papier mache masks, ceramic masks, metal masks and polymer clay masks.
All have secrets and pasts, these beautiful (some would call them ugly), but always interesting masks hung by nails driven into the concrete.
Who knows where they've been worn, or by whom?
The label on the back of one simply says "Created by Ralph, early 20th century."
Who was Ralph? Vienneau has no idea.
She buys masks for her private collection (they are not for sale) at estate sales and flea markets. They don't come with records detailing their origins.
The others, many from the early or mid 1920s, are for sale at prices ranging from $25 (for mask pins) to $175.
"Some people who visit, it freaks them out," said Vienneau.
Especially the carnival mask with the straight, white wooden teeth and evil grin.
The mask has a curly green beard and vivid pink lips. The glass eyeballs are aqua rimmed with a sickly yellow.
"He looks kind of mean," Vienneau said. "He just doesn't look very friendly."
The mask was perfect to wear to a costume party Vienneau attended at a bar one year - perfect if the goal is to freak people out.
"People were looking at it with fear and apprehension," she said, laughing. "They kept their distance."
The mask, once used at a carnival, is not for sale, not that many people are clamoring to own it.
Other masks on the walls have been used in cult rituals, initiation ceremonies and exorcism of evil spirits, Vienneau said.
Some masks have been worn as a disguise or to give magical powers, their owners believing that by putting on a mask, they took on the identity of a spirit.
Some masks have realistic human or animal features, and others give the wearer a grotesque appearance to scare others.
In ancient China, masks were used to help portray types of characters on the stage.
In any case, maskmaking evolved into a highly developed art form Vienneau appreciates.
"They are individual pieces of art," she said. "Their symbolism is secondary to us."
"Masks - Collectible and Contemporary" is on display through July 19 at Snooty Judy's Fine Art Gallery, 514 Skinner Blvd. State Road 580, Dunedin. See masks from around the world. Summer hours at the gallery are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call (727) 734-9835 or visit www.openmindart.com
