It’s Spooky Season at the OJAC!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.
I realize it’s a relatively new one compared to others, and it’s modern iteration has been shaped by many different traditions, beliefs, events and cultural influences. It certainly wasn’t always about candy, trick-or-treating, or parties! But from the very beginning it included costumes and scary stories- and it’s visual imagery included shadow and mystery. Dark corners, winding paths, foggy fields, and spooky structures.
A Gate Which Opened Out, 1944. BILL BOMAR. Oil on canvas. 1982.029
So in search of a collection work that referenced that imagery and vibe- I came across a piece by one of the museums’s founders, Bill Bomar. This is “The Gate Which Opened Out,” an oil painting created in 1944.
To me, the scene of this painting invokes a spooky Halloween night in Texas…when it’s still warm enough outside for plants in bloom, but with nights that are beginning to feel crisp and cool.
It instantly reminded me of “that one house that feels too spooky to approach when you’re out trick-or-treating.” Overgrown, exotic plants. The curved path and stone steps. The mysterious, backlit gate. It seems to both lure the viewer and make them hesitate.
And the style of the work adds even more to that vibe. The surrealism that provides just enough realistic detail, but with an eerie, dreamlike quality that can feel a bit disconcerting.
Now, not much is known about this painting or it’s specific inspiration. Does it reference a real location? Is this a place the artist observed or lived at? Or is it simply an entrance he conjured?
Did the artist desire that the heavy, dark and backlit gate to give such an eerie vibe? Perhaps I read the scene differently than intended. Perhaps he felt the plants, path and glowing light to feel welcoming?
We don’t know much of artist intent. But we do know of his artistic process and style.
Born in 1919, Bill Bomar started painting at the age of seven. His earlier works were purely abstract, but he would later experiment with a variety of styles.
Later in his career he would develop a type of representational surrealism. (As seen in the painting above).
This unique style seems to invoke hazy memories. Images that make the viewer wonder at reality. ‘Does that reference something the artist actually saw or experienced? Or was this something from a dream?’
Adding to the quandary, Bomar’s portraits and landscapes almost always includes recognizable, objects..but they feel unlikely to the scene. At close inspection the viewer may discover arrows, thorns, nails, and locks. Blossoms, thorns, webs, and waves may also be observed. These feel internally placed symbols that may be important to the narrative, but add to the mystery of the work. (How many of these symbols do you find in the painting above?)
I’m curious to know if its other viewers have a similar read of this work. Does this scene invoke a memory for you? Does it remind you of a place you can’t entirely identify, but feels familiar? Does if feel welcoming or ominous? Would you comfortably approach and knock to enter?
For me, this entrance would be a bit too spooky to approach, yet somehow a place from which it would be difficult to walk away.
And I suppose that’s the spooky, charm of it.
Kellie Bellah
Visitor Services Associate