Fast and Loose | Ruthann Godollei

A scammer sets up loops of string to grab or let go of a stick, the public lays down bets, but the game is rigged, the scammer knows how to pull strings to make things always go his way. This show is about fraudsters, cheats and liars and their misfortunate dupes. Poor Pinocchio for example, in Carlo Collodi's original 1893 story, gets conned and cheated out of his money and talked out of staying in school, which turns him into a donkey so he loses everything he loves. Only a sincere act of human kindness can make him human. For Fast and Loose Godollei made some modern day Pinocchio-type figures, in a variety of mediums, pondering how one could lie so much that it turns into a burden. Lying About climate change, that women and LGBTQ+ people shouldn't control their own bodies, lies about science and vaccines, and that our elections aren't viable. Some of these characters can hardly hold their head up. Treading the line between humor and pathos, Godollei wants the viewer to have some empathy for the misled, but as the original Pinocchio story warns, it can be dangerous, even deadly, to those around you to keep lying long after you know the 'alternate facts' are destructive to everyone, even oneself.

Godollei sees that those in power are spreading lies and ignorance about immigrants, women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, the poor, the environment, unions and the underrepresented. “One goal is to feel solidarity with other people who feel the need to protest, another is to encourage others to take action themselves, another is to create history… a permanent record for organizing, encouragement, and teaching.” Godollei views her role as an artist as one with a clear purpose. “My idea is that sometimes humor is an effective tool to get a message across and that for some artists, their job is to promote the beautiful or the good, and for me, my job is to critique and expose,” she said. “And that’s my position from the art world, and I’m trying to use it to my ability to bring about social change that I think is needed.”

About the Artist:

Ruthann Godollei creates testimonial objects, bearing witness to the abuses of power. Her work in multiple media often incorporates text and found materials to comment on inequities and social issues. Exhibits include: Let It Bring  ____, Latitude 53 gallery, Edmonton, AB, Canada, 2024; Extreme Pressure, Biennial of American Prints, College of Central Florida, 2024; Dada Ruht Nicht, The Brandenburgische Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Cottbus, Germany, 2023; LaLínea: Grupo Soap del Corazón, Plains Museum, Fargo, ND, 2022; Many Waters: A Minnesota Biennial at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN, 2021; etc. She has created social art projects for Northern Spark Festival in St. Paul, MN and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Her work is in many international collections, including KUMU Museum, Tallinn, Estonia; the Centre For Fine Print Research, Bristol, UK; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Polish National Museum of Art, Poznañ, among others. Author of a DIY printmaking book, "How to Create Your Own ... " (Voyageur Press), she was the recipient of a 2022-'23 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship and a 2019 Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Printmaking at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. She is a Professor of Art at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN and the owner/operator of Printland Press LLC.

Gallery Hours:

Thursday         11am-6pm
Friday             11am-6pm
Saturday         11am-5pm
Sunday           11am-5pm

Presented alongside: Fragments of Intimacy | Krista Anderson-Larson and The Unknown Thing that Frees You | Lela Pierce