P I N K - M O O N - WADE F. MACDONALD

A H O M I L Y F O R T H E P I N K M O O N

Exhibition Title: A Homily for the Pink Moon - Anne Herbert and Wade MacDonald

Dates: 04/04/25 - 05/30/25

Venue: Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL

Exhibition Statement:
The Gadsden Museum of Art is pleased to present A Homily for the Pink Moon, a two-person exhibition featuring new work by artists Wade MacDonald and Anne Herbert. The exhibition brings together two distinct yet deeply connected practices that explore the tensions between structure and vulnerability, control and intuition, permanence and change.

Rooted in the symbolism of April’s Pink Moon—a harbinger of renewal and quiet transformation—this exhibition draws on cycles of construction, loss, and revelation. A Homily for the Pink Moon invites viewers into a contemplative space where material and mark become vessels for personal and collective reflection.

Wade MacDonald’s sculptural ceramics engage with the aesthetics and ideologies of contemporary architecture. He approaches his forms as architectural models—reimagined pedestals and structures built from clay and construction materials—that address the human condition in an increasingly fragmented world. His work reinterprets utilitarian design through a deeply human lens, positioning ceramics as a conduit between past and present, between art and architecture. Through this lens, MacDonald explores the capacity of material forms to prompt reflection on social roles, technological change, and collective responsibility.

In contrast, Anne Herbert’s paintings unfold through a process of intuitive experimentation and close observation. Her layered surfaces, built mark by mark, speak to impermanence, discovery, and the emotional resonance of color and gesture. Each painting acts as a witness to the artist’s daily life—messy, imperfect, and deeply present. Her compositions embrace contradiction and ambiguity, embodying the tension between clarity and obscurity, knowing and not knowing. Through this quiet persistence, Herbert’s work becomes a meditation on identity, acceptance, and the cycles that define existence.

Together, MacDonald and Herbert present a shared visual homily—a meditative offering that honors the fragility, complexity, and wonder of being. Their works call attention to the poetic intersections of form and feeling, structure and sensation, and the enduring power of making as a way of understanding the world.

Photos: Wade MacDonald