Anne Buckwalter

 Provocative Paintings Challenge Ideas Around Sex and Domesticity

A quick glance at Anne Buckwalter’s new exhibition can’t help but evoke the purest childhood memories. Scenes of wholesome domesticity sit flatly in conjoining quadrants, conjuring reminiscences of doll houses, quilting patterns and the kind of floral wallpaper that wouldn’t have been out of place on an episode of Little House on the Prairie. On the surface, these are images of wholesome domesticity, idealized farmhouse interiors, and good old-fashioned rural Americana.

Look a little closer, however, and there’s something else at play.

Hidden in small details, every painting in I Will Clean the Closet, I Will Climb the Stairs also lays bare elements of human — often queer — sexuality. In Reverse Picnic, snacks on a kitchen table are accompanied by the sight, through picture-perfect windows, of a lesbian couple (one wearing a strap-on) romping naked on the lawn outside. In The Arrangement, a framed image of a trio of naked lovers sits next to an antique clock and doily on a side table decorated with flowers. In Making Plans in June, a bed covered with plaid sheets overlooks a scene of natural beauty outside. There just happens to be a bondage manual and length of rope also sitting on top of the covers. 

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