Mary Eddy & “May Contain Fruit” at the Scarab Club @ Hyperallergic
DETROIT — To those who consume it, fruit may be among nature’s most delicious treats, but fruits are also reproductive bodies.
“Its [fruit’s] entire design is to better produce the next generation,” said Mary Eddy, one of four participating artists in the group show May Contain Fruit at the Scarab Club. “That vessel to produce another vessel to produce another vessel, which so closely mirrors our anatomy.”
Joining work in diverse media by artists Alyssa Bogdan, Ginny Martin, and Manal Shoukair, Eddy’s contributions stand out in part by sheer numbers — of 58 pieces on display in the Scarab Club’s main gallery space, 46 were produced by Eddy — but also in their direct use of the fruit as a living material, rather than just casting it. In a relatively tight span of two months, Eddy cultivated an experimental and hands-on process of converting fruits from Chile, Guatemala, and Mexico into 2D painted works, with pigments developed from the juice of the various fruits, and 3D sculptural works that use basket-woven reed constructions as the superstructure for intricately cut and dried fruit skins.