Mystery & Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art was organized by the American Folk Art Museum, New York from the Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.
About the Exhibit
Featuring over eighty carvings, sculptures, textiles, and regalia revealed in Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art bring to light the histories, symbolism, and values of the Freemasons and the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows.
Curious and captivating, with over eighty carvings, sculptures, textiles, and regalia revealed in Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art bring to light the histories, symbolism, and values of the Freemasons and the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows—two fraternal brotherhoods with deep roots in American history. Through arcane and alluring artifacts such as grave markers, serpent-headed staffs, richly embroidered textiles, and ceremonial regalia, Mystery and Benevolence transports us to the golden age of American secret societies, when folk art and decorative arts were brought together to confer a sense of legacy, status, and belonging in a newly established country.
Enigmatic, evocative, and often simply strange, fraternal references are a rich part of contemporary American popular culture. But the seductive mystique of secret societies, with their cryptic signs and gestures, has been inculcated in our American experience since the early eighteenth century. Before the age of mass production, the artist who painted a portrait or embellished a piece of furniture might have also decorated a parade banner, an apron, symbols on a chart, or a backdrop for a fraternal lodge. More important, he or she encoded the ideals of fellowship, labor, charity, passage, and wisdom—the core of fraternal teachings—into the many forms associated with fraternal practice. The iconic art and objects showcased in Mystery and Benevolence relate the tenets of fraternal belief through a potent combination of highly charged imagery, form, and meaning. The exhibition explores the fascinating visual landscape of fraternal culture through over eighty works of art.
September 28, 2024 - January 5, 2025
Location: Museum, 3rd Floor