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‘IT’S RUDE TO STARE’ ON VIEW AT MASS MOCA’S KIDSPACE

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NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Kidspace at Mass MoCA presents “It’s Rude to Stare,” featuring sculpture and drawings by English-born, Vermont-based artist Richard Criddle, on view through February 24.

In a personal “archaeological dig”’ into his childhood fears and stories, Criddle interprets his memories on a large-than-life scale. He presents his autobiography in the form of oversized sculptures made from wood, bronze, fabricated steel and found objects including wooden blinds, furniture components, a furnace shovel and heavy-duty industrial hardware.

Criddle’s style of working produces vivid impressions of people from his past in this trip down memory lane. Many of the sculptures were inspired by real people who made a lasting impact on the artist, including his school teachers, a grumpy war veteran and a disabled child (at whom his mother told him it was rude to stare). Criddle merges true stories of people from his memories with folklore stories to create hybrid figures — half-real, half-mythological. Their sculptural presence in the gallery resonates with collective and personal memories as well as the artist’s own.

In addition to sculptures of other people and characters, the exhibition includes collages, drawings and mixed-media self-portraits, which reveal the artist’s interest in how people experience themselves in the past and the present and in relationship to others. These drawings, along with Criddle’s huge figures, provoke the viewer to consider: are we looking at them or are we the object of scrutiny? Is the art looking at us?

Criddle is a British sculptor who moved to New England in 1996. He now lives and works in southern Vermont. He has exhibited his sculpture throughout the United Kingdom, including twice at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and in the United States, most recently at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Gallery 51 in North Adams.

For information, 413-664-4481, extension 8131, or www.massmoca.org/kidspace.