The words house and home carry powerful and emotional associations. While house refers to a physical structure meant for habitation and shelter, the meaning of home is infinitely varied, complex, and evocative. For some, the word home conjures up happy memories of family, security, and comfort. For others, the concept of home holds more conflicted responses, those of displacement, alienation, or strife. As containers for living, the forms that the house and the home take are as varied as the human desires they hold.
The historic and contemporary paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings from the Addison’s collection presented in this exhibition give evidence of the multiple types of dwellings that humans have constructed for themselves, the many ways in which those spaces are inhabited, and the wide range of emotions and associations attached to them.
