Pool Party: The Pool in American Art at the Mennello Museum of Art will feature works including Floater 17 and Floater 19 by Derrick Adams and Portrait of an Affluent Family by Jay Lynn Gomez. By the 1960s, swimming pools had become synonymous with the American Dream—but also, to some, a symbol of classism and racism. | All images courtesy Mennello Museum of American Art
SWIMMING POOLS HAVE long been synonymous with easy living. They became emblematic of the American Dream, while also bringing to the fore darker considerations of classism and racism. Not everyone, as we know, was invited to the party.
Perhaps that will be one of the main takeaways from Pool Party: The Pool in American Art, which will run June 6 to September 28 at the Mennello Museum of American Art.
The exhibition will feature works by painters and photographers whose practices began in the 1960s alongside those of contemporary artists who will imbue a layer of history—and some less playful cultural context—to their splashy subjects.
“It was a happy surprise how much work was out there,” says Shannon Fitzgerald, the museum’s executive director. “Ultimately, this is a Utopian, American phenomenon. It really doesn’t exist in other cultures the way it does here.”
Arguably, the painter of the most iconic mid-century pools was pop artist David Hockney, whose work is featured in the exhibition. Slim Aarons, a photographer, was drawn to the spectacle of elite poolside gatherings, while another photographer, Ed Ruscha, pursued the artificiality of low-end motel pools.
While the public pool was initially designed as a communal space for public health, the dynamics changed after World War I. Such attractions went from bathhouses to leisure destinations and incorporated sand and chairs for sunbathing. Dive right in, the water’s fine!
But the good vibes generated by public pools were marred by ugly episodes of racial segregation. Fast forward to today and painter Derrick Adams’s vibrant Floater series, which makes a powerful point by showing seemingly carefree people of color lounging on festive pool floats.
In addition to the paintings and photographs, Pool Party will include several sculptures and a pool-tile installation. And the museum is really hammering home the summer theme with a “Dog Days of Summer” event in August with pools, games and floats to promote the return of “pet memberships,” which were suspended during COVID-19.
“I think Pool Party will ultimately evoke nostalgia, and I hope we can pause for some of the social implications,” says Fitzgerald. “This exhibition really runs the gamut.”
The Mennello Museum of American Art is located at 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, in Loch Haven Cultural Park. For more information, call 407.246.4278 or visit mennellomuseum.org.
