THE MUSEUM OF EMBELLISHED HISTORY presents NEW BANTAM
Curated by Sara Driver, solo booth at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NYC
September 6 - 11, 2023
Artwork by Cate Pasquarelli
Cate Pasquarelli’s Museum of Embellished History consists of a series of exhibitions that pull from true stories, old wives tales, and the artist’s imagination to assemble an alternate history. The exhibitions reflect on the facts and fictions that plague small towns. While the museum’s artifacts may be manufactured, they represent some very real dreams and nightmares.
The Museum’s debut exhibition at SPRING/BREAK Art Show tells the story of New Bantam, Connecticut, featuring the work of local artist Peter Landon.
Only a few lonely souls are left wandering the streets of New Bantam, but the locals remind us that 60 years ago it was a quiet, cozy town where neighbors left their porch doors open. Today it is remembered by a series of bizarre happenings, or “acts of God” as some call them, that polarized the town into two factions: believers and non-believers. New Bantam now stands as a faint ghost of its former self.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to make sense of the town I grew up in. There is no accurate account of what has happened here. All I have is the stories my parents have told me, the whispers I’ve heard around town, and my own indistinct memory. “
- Peter Landon