GREG COOK: VISIONARY AND FOLK ART SITES ACROSS the UNITED STATES

The Winfisky Gallery presents a photo exhibition by artist Greg Cook. “Visionary and Folk Art Sites Across the United States” October 14 to November 8. Cook has traveled the country photographing these unique sites, curated to share stories ranging from UFO’s (South Carolina) to whirligigs (North Carolina), to the cultural power of African beads (Michigan), to the Winnie-the-Pooh House here in Massachusetts.

"For several years now, I’ve been making pilgrimages to visionary sites across the United States.



I think what I'm chasing after, maybe, is people so moved to somehow improve their world that they obsessively work to change the bit of it that they can control—their apartment, their house, their yard, a garden, a vacant lot, the grassy corner at a highway off ramp.



There's a term in science fiction called "world building," which refers to how authors/creators fully imagine other worlds. To me the artists do this but make it reality. Sometimes they're trying to spread a message to change the wider world—to spread faith, to improve civil rights, to argue with an ex or the law. Sometimes it seems to be about collecting memories. Sometimes it's about surrounding themselves with more beauty. But to me there's generally something in there about finding the world as it is inadequate and trying to shape it more to their liking with whatever tools and space they have available." - Greg Cook

Additional Exhibition Events

Artist Talk: Wednesday, November 6 at 12:30 pm

Reception: Wednesday, November 6 from 1:30-3 pm

The Winfisky Gallery is located on the ground floor of the Ellison Campus Center and is open Monday through Friday, 10 am-4 pm. 

Image: UFO Welcome Center in Bowman, South Carolina, June 20, 2019 (Greg Cook)