the simple curves of plowed fields and the
play of light and shadow on architecture.
The CMA also made a major purchase in
the first few months of 2013. As the end of
the loan period for the sculptures Kaitlin
and Martin by North Carolina-based artist
Bob Trotman (b. 1947) drew closer, the
staff felt that the piece had become too
much a part of the CMA to let it leave.
The visitor services staff reported that
visitors often pose with the figures for
photos, which delights the artist and makes
the work one of the CMA’s signature views.
Kaitlin and Martin exemplify Trotman’s
work, as his artist statement attests: “As a
contemporary artist, I am fascinated by
a noire narrative of life at the office. My
wooden people, often surprisingly posed,
evoke both humor and anxiety and, taken
together, offer an absurdist vision of an
imaginary corporate purgatory.”
This humor resonates with CMA
members and visitors. Perhaps for all of
us in our modern work-a-day lives there
are moments when we feel like Kaitlin
and Martin look – with frayed nerves,
drowning. Kaitlin and Martin will appear
in various places in the CMA and continue
to delight visitors. n
Above: Lee Hall, American, born 1934, Connecticut Rise/Autumn, 1978
oil on linen, Gift of Janna S. Fitzgerald in 2013
Below: Bob Trotman, American, born 1947, Kaitlin and Martin, 2008
wood, tempera, wax, Museum purchase in 2013
columbiamuseum.org
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