Coming to the Downing Museum this month is a multi-generational, multi-media art exhibition from longtime friends of the museum, the Fife family. Todd, his nonagenarian father, Malcolm Noland, and son, Malcolm Mathison exhibit together for the first time, representing a family tradition of art-making that goes back to the 1940s with Malcolm Noland’s creation of “Seated Woman,” an award-winning stone carving that will proudly be one of the highlights of this exhibition.
Todd began his art journey less than a decade ago fulfilling a promise to his beloved sister, Phyllis, to carry on her legacy by developing and sharing his creative mind with the world through art. The desire to create hasn’t skipped a generation, either, as Todd’s son, Malcolm Mathison Fife, began creating art at an early age, and in May 2022 graduated from Murray State University with a degree in art.
The Fife tradition of creating spans not only three-quarters of a century, but ranges in medium, as well. Malcolm Noland now creates brilliantly-carved walking canes that come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from fairytale-like birds swallowing tiny fishes to two-headed creatures and snakes, all suggesting a sort of folk-creativity that is unrivaled in the area. That creativity was certainly well-infused into Todd, whose subject matter ranges from surreal scenes of macabre torture and supernatural terrors to decadent historical still-life and peaceful scenes of Kentucky’s natural arches. Todd’s primary medium is painting, and with extravagant detail. His work has won several awards, including Best of Show at the 2022 US Bank Celebration of the Arts Exhibition at the Kentucky Museum and is in the permanent collection of the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in Cleveland, Ohio. The work of the youngest Fife, Malcolm Mathison, is more “tame” than that of his father and grandfather’s, but is easily as interesting. His subject matter reflects his personal penchant toward history, sometimes reexamining master works as self-portraits, with an affinity for historic style and attire. He works in a variety of art forms, his primary being painting and printmaking. His Terra Cotta bust of Kentucky inventor Nathan Stubblefield is in the permanent collection of Murray State’s Wrather Museum.
The linear attribute that runs through these three artists is the ability to tell a story with similar, but varying interests. Thus, the goal of this exhibition is to curate the Fife story through different generations, chapters, if you will; some fiction, some fantasy, some you might not even be able to describe. One thing, for sure, is that this exhibition is sure to entice, encourage, inspire and endure as a snapshot of one of the most interesting artistic families in South Central Kentucky.
Along with the Fifes, painter Jay Dougherty, also of Bowling Green, will exhibit his watercolors, many of local cemetery scenes, in the window gallery of the museum. Both exhibitions will run from January 10-February 18. Please join us at the Downing Museum for an exhibition opening reception on January 14, 6-8PM.
-by Jack LeSieur, Downing Museum Director
