“Because the Sky is Blue”

Because the Sky is Blue opens on October 2, 2026 at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. The exhibition will remain on view through January 17, 2027.

The CMCA-wide group exhibition, curated by Grant Wahlquist, explores themes of loss, catastrophe, and the symbolic power of the sky within contemporary painting and expanded visual practices. The exhibition brings together artists from Maine and abroad in a reflection on the boundaries between painting, image-making, and conceptual practice.

The center’s largest gallery will feature the work of French artist, Wilfrid Almendra.

Wilfrid Almendra (b. 1972 in Cholet), primarily known for sculpture, contributes a major new site-specific installation composed of glass panels, natural materials, and cast aluminum elements. The work engages with transparency, absence, and architectural light, creating a sculptural counterpoint to two-dimensional works in the exhibition. His practice, rooted in material experimentation and everyday economies, resonates with the show’s broader inquiry into perception, memory, and the emotional registers of form. Almendra lives and works between Marseille and Casario, Portugal and has exhibited widely in France and internationally in institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou-Metz, and MCA Chicago, and continues to develop a practice that links social realities, material culture, and spatial experience.

Because the Sky is Blue is supported by Etant donnés, a program of Albertine Foundation and Villa Albertine.

Opening reception on Friday, October 2, from 5-7pm at the CMCA.