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By Brianna Wray
The Times 

The Museum of Un-Natural History

Opinionated, satiric, iconoclastic, and in questionable taste

 

March 21, 2019

Brianna Wray

The parlor of the Museum of Un-Natural History located above Tallman's Drug on Main Street in downtown Walla Walla.

WALLA WALLA-Upstairs, and down the hall of a brick-and-mortar building on Walla Walla's Main Street sits one Gerald Matthews; part artist, part exhibit. Matthews is a retired actor most famously known as the voice of Sugar Bear, the suave Sugar Crisp cereal mascot and the little man in the Ty-D-Bol ad.

Matthews has spent the last 30 years creating a madhouse of irreverent sculptures that whirl and buzz as a social commentary referencing Dadaism, Surrealism and Absurdism.

Astounding and outlandish compositions line shelves and perch in cages such as the Massive Egg of the Giant Squawk, a mythical bird meticulously chronicled among the exhibits.

"I like Dada because it has no rules," says Matthews, "I'd read about it in New York and you could make anything you want and no one could tell you you're wrong."

Dada's purpose is to invoke whimsy as a means of questioning the status quo.

Dada artists are both embraced and critiqued for their use of readymade objects-everyday objects such as Marcel Duchamp's Urinal sculpture that could be bought and presented as art with little to no manipulation by the artist.

Matthews draws on the idea of the ready-made, but elevates the concept by reconstructing identifiable objects into working machines of questionable necessity. It's like steampunk before steampunk, crossed with an incredibly welcoming flying circus.

Bing Crosby warbles out of a speaker that is indistinguishable from the art surrounding it and this is Matthews' idea of fun.

"It's my social hour," said Matthews, a native Texan, who has been happily married to Tony Award winner Pat Stanley since 1980.

Brianna Wray

Retired actor Gerald Matthews is part artist, part exhibit as he sits among his "madhouse of irreverent sculptures."

"My philosophy is heavily laced with satire and sarcasm and as a result it's best if I keep my mouth shut in polite company," jokes Matthews. "The constructions in my museum tend to reflect this outlook. Of course, not every visitor tumbles to my point of view. All I ask is that you approach the work with humor and some tolerance of irony."

It's not unusual to hear giggling from some corner of the loft as patrons come across Kiki the mannequin or swooning at the romantic diorama, Love in the Time of Cholera. You could stop in every weekend and find something new to see each time.

Visitors are invited to sign the guest book and share their impressions. One such patron describes the experience as, "A world beyond Walla Walla. A world within a world without walls," and another describes as "a perfect vacation from my mind."

The Museum of Un-Natural History, located at 4 & 1/2 West Main over Tallman's in Walla Walla, is free and open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. Parental guidance suggested. More information is available at wallawalladada.com.

 

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