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Date: 12/21/2021
AMHERST – In an effort to liven the local arts scene coming out of the pandemic, the Amherst Public Art Commission hosted their first exhibit in the Town Hall gallery since the pandemic shut events like this down.
Artist Chris Bordenca, a painter from Belchertown, was selected as the first person to show their exhibit in this setting since pre pandemic and he set up his show for the start of December. Bordenca’s show titled, “Still Playing” has different drawing and paintings scattered on the walls of the Town Hall featuring a wide variety of artistic takes of classic toys from his childhood.
“I’m a 46-year-old person, now adult, but I still play with all my toys,” Bordenca said. “Essentially when I’m painting, I have to arrange everything and put them into different configurations. A lot of times I’m trying to re-create the old ads they used to show in the Sears catalogue.”
Bordenca worked as a mural painter for about 10 years before taking a whole decade off. He explained how he fell in and out of his passion due to it becoming work. That was until he reassessed the things important to him in his life – painting being one of the biggest.
“Drawing and painting is a form of play, but as I got older it became work. Painting murals for other people meant I was creating things they were interested in that I wasn’t,” Bordenca said. “It took away most aspects of discovery, curiosity, experimentation, and fun. All those things together equal play. Luckily being a father gave me countless opportunities to play with our boys.
Bordenca explained he sometimes will have his 11-year-old son stand in for his work and a representation of himself at that age to capture what he is going for in this show. The independence of his youngest child helped with Bordenca coming back to this idea of painting the toys from his youth. The connection through something as simple as childhood and toys has inspired Bordenca in reconnecting himself with his own forms of play though his art.
After not painting for a decade, Bordenca said it was important to reconnect to that part of himself without the limitations and expectations of others. As he worked himself back into a groove, he faced the challenge of deciding the subject matter for his show.
“There were countless options that others would generally like and approve of, but that’s not what this was about. What did I want to paint? It just kind of clicked that why not paint the things that I care about, that I love and that meant a lot to me,” Bordenca said. “By painting what I care about the reaction I am going to get from people are directly related to that thing I care about. It’s a much more satisfying experience to have people like what I’m making now because I’m making it for myself. The people who see what I do appreciate it for the same reason I do.”
Thus leading to his idea for “Still Playing.”
“Toys are all something we can get behind,” he added.
Public Art Commission Chair Bill Kaizen praised Bordenca’s work and felt this was a great starting point for the Commissions return to in person events to showcase exhibits.
“Chris’s work is particularly apt for the holiday season. With his paintings of retro toys, it recalls many of our childhoods. I remember owning a number of the toys he depicts,” Kaizen said.
This was a long time coming ever since the commission had to stop presenting projects such as this due to the pandemic. Kaizen said while bringing visual art to Amherst has been challenging they were able to get support from the state allowed for the opening of the Portal Gallery on Boltwood Plaza, a new outdoor gallery space as a temporary solution.
“Because Town Hall was closed for so long, we haven’t been able to host exhibitions there,” said Kaizen. “Now that town hall is open to the public, Chris’s show is a wonderful way to get back for a while. I know they miss having art to enjoy on the walls. The exhibition is as much for them as for visitors to town hall.”
Bordenca also expressed excitement for the return of a showcase like this.
“We installed it two weeks ago and just the people who work at town hall alone, the reactions that I was getting from them was just fantastic. They sat and worked in that office in that building for almost two years without anything on the walls and so just person after person just kept coming up to just say how happy they were to be able to see anything on those walls at all,” Bordenca said. “Especially with what I have its pretty lighthearted and fun to look at, so that just kind of added to the excitement that they had when they were able to see it all and have that thing in their lives again.”
The project as a whole has been rooted in connectivity, bringing together the community to in person art events as well as possibly connecting anyone who is able to see Bordenca’s work with their inner child, like he has through his work.
“Now any appreciation for these paintings is the cherry on top of the result of doing something I truly love,” Bordenca said. “The importance of play should not be understated in our lives. For the brief time we are here, we will always be children who need to play.”
To see more of Bordenca’s paintings you can visit bordenca.com, or his Instagram page at @chris_bordenca_art. Some of his work is also showcased in The Quarters in Hadley and The Small Works Show at Hope and Feathers just a few blocks down the road from Dec. 1 to Jan. 11.
Prints of Bordenca’s work can be purchased from his shop online at bordenca.com. To purchase an original painting you can email him at chris@bordenca.com or direct message him via Instagram.