“Anne Carney Raines’ Whiskey Throttle, 2022 sets my mind to wandering. I love its evocations of a landscape of the ‘big sky’ that speaks to the western states of north America. There is as well a Georgia O’Keeffe vibe to it that sets a stage for metaphorical readings: spending time with this painting, I now cannot escape anthropomorphic readings. Does anyone else see a woman’s head? Ultimately, Anne Carney’s painting here takes me where I want to go–to Junior Johnson and Popcorn Sutton keeping one step ahead of the revenuers. For the United States, The Whiskey Rebellion was our Kronstadt. Those are trees of liberty that should not be forgotten. A little rebellion now and then, particularly on May the first, is in order.”

–John Slyce