2004
MUSEUM PRESS RELEASES
Click
here to see 2003 Press Releases
Photographer and Educator Peggy Blythe to speak during Art at Noon
LEXINGTON, KY (January 2, 2004) - On January 7, at noon, photographer and UK alumnus Peggy Blythe will speak on the communicative quality of photographs in Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940-2001. This exhibition of photographs, currently on view at the University of Kentucky Art Museum until January 25, is drawn entirely from the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum.
Blythe is a social psychology teacher and counselor at Sayre High School in Lexington. Her work has been printed in major publications such as the New York Times and the Louisville Magazine. She has recently received the Al Smith Fellowship and other grants to conduct documentary studies of social issues facing our community. In her artwork, she focuses on environmental portraiture and works with young people.
Art at Noon lectures are
free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Deborah
Borrowdale-Cox at 859-257-6199.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and
Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8
p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum
information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Visions from America lecture by John Rohrbach
LEXINGTON, KY (January 2, 2004) - On Sunday, January 11, John Rohrbach, Curator of Photographs at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX, will speak on current trends of photographic art as projected by the Whitney Museum of American Art's exhibition Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940-2001. This exhibition of photographs, currently on view at the University of Kentucky Art Museum until January 25, is drawn entirely from the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum.
Rohrbach has been with the Amon Carter Museum since 1992. He has also served as Director of the Paul Strand Archive, Aperture Foundation; Director of the Photographic Archive and Exhibitions Program at Apeiron Workshops, Inc., Millerton, NY; and Exhibition Preparator at the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Rohrbach received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware Program in American Civilization in 1993.
The lecture will begin at 2 p.m. in the Singletary Center
for the Arts Recital Hall. It is free to UKAM members, faculty, staff, and
students, and $4 for the general public. For tickets, call Deborah Borrowdale-Cox
at 859-257-6199.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and
Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8
p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum
information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Curator
Thomas Southall to speak at May Lectures
LEXINGTON, KY (January
16, 2004) – Thomas Southall, Curator of the High Museum in Atlanta,
Ga., will speak during the 2003-2004 Robert C. May Photography Endowment Lecture
Series, on Friday, February 6, 2004 at 4 p.m. in the UK Worsham Theatre in
the Student Center.
Southall oversees the High Museum’s important project of commissioning prominent photographers to produce work on the South. Inspired by the High’s historical survey exhibition Picturing the South (1996), these commissions provide a contemporary perspective on both traditional and new Southern subjects and themes. In the process, the High has built a distinctive collection that includes work by Dauwood Bey, Emmet Gowin, Sally Mann, Richard Misrach, Alex Webb, and others. Bey made a series of over-life-size portraits of Atlanta High School students. Mann’s commission helped support her shift to landscape work, resulting in the first works of her Motherland series. Webb, the noted Magnum photographer, captured the drama of Atlanta’s street and nightlife. Misrach used a large-format view camera to reveal the beauty and the pathos of the Mississippi River landscapes between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, an area known as ‘Cancer Alley.’ And Emmet Gowin made aerial photographs of aeration ponds of several paper mills located in the South. At his talk, Southall will present an overview of this important series of commissions.
Born in Bronxville, New York, in
1951, Southall studied at St. Lawrence University, where he earned a B.A.
in 1973, and at the University of New Mexico, where he earned a M.A. in 1977.
As Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art, Southall has organized
numerous exhibitions with publications, including Diane Arbus: Magazine Work
(Spencer Museum of Art and Aperture, 1984), Walker Evans and William Christenberry:
Of Time and Place (University of New Mexico, 1990); Revealing Territory: Photographs
of the Southwest by Mark Klett (University of New Mexico, 1992) and Chorus
of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection (High Museum and
Rizzoli, 2000).
The lecture series is sponsored by the Robert C. May Photography Endowment,
an Art Museum fund established in 1994 for the support of acquisitions and
programs relating to photography. The 2003-2004 May Lecture Series is the
program's seventh year and features (or has featured) the following photographers
and photography curator:
Sam Abell: October 10, 2003
Linda Connor: November 14, 2003
Thomas Southall: February 6, 2004
Harriet Logan: March 26, 2004
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For
Art Lovers
LEXINGTON, KY (February
2, 2004) – On February 14, 2004 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the University
of Kentucky Art Museum will present For Art Lovers. Come and sample wine,
cheese, and delicious chocolates, all while admiring fine art.
Valentine games
and prizes will help “art lovers” get to know more about each
other and the art in the museum.
Promotional partners
for this event are Equus Run Vineyards and Ruth Hunt Candies. Tickets are
$10 for museum members, $14 for non-members. Call Amy Nelson at 859-257-6218
for reservations. Tickets will also be available at the door.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and
Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8
p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum
information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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A Ceramic Continuum and Tuska at the UK Art Museum
LEXINGTON,
KY (February 12, 2003) – The University of Kentucky Art Museum is proud
to present A Ceramic Continuum: Fifty Years of the Archie Bray Influence,
scheduled to open on February 29 and run through April 25, 2004.
The Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2001. The Foundation is situated on the grounds of a former brick manufacturing plant owned by the late Archie Bray, who was groomed to lead the enterprise by learning the brick making trade at his father’s knee. Over the years, the Foundation has attracted clay artists worldwide who have flourished in an atmosphere that encourages experimentation and growth. Dedicated to the enrichment of the ceramic arts, the Foundation sponsors a residency program that has been a breeding ground for many emerging artists who have gone on to establish international careers in the field of contemporary ceramic art, including John and Andrea Gill, Wayne Higby, Warren McKenzie, Richard Notkin, and Akio Takamori. The Foundation’s alumni now number over 300 artists and include studio potters and faculty who guide ceramic art programs at colleges and universities.
This exhibition is a survey of the residency program and mirrors the evolution of contemporary crafts since the 1950s. Comprised of 85 pieces drawn from the Foundation’s permanent collection, the exhibition incorporates utilitarian pottery, sculptural vessels, and large-scale architectural sculpture by resident and visiting artists, including works by world-renowned craftsmen Bernard Leach from England and Shoji Hamada from Japan. The exhibition also includes work from the Foundation’s former resident directors—Rudy Autio, David Cornell, Ken Ferguson, Carol Roorbach, David Shaner, Kurt Weiser, and Peter Voulkos—as well as by Josh DeWeese, the current resident director.
This
exhibition is part of a sixteen-city national tour organized by Holter Museum
of Art in Helena, Montana, in cooperation with the Bray Foundation, and circulated
by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, Kansas City, Missouri. At the University
of Kentucky Art Museum, promotional partners are the Clay Ingles Company,
LLC and Alltech’s Lexington Brewing Company.
To accompany this show,
the museum has organized a small exhibition of works by the late John Regis
Tuska, one of Kentucky’s most distinguished ceramic artists. The exhibition,
featuring many works never exhibited before, has been selected from the private
collections of Seth and Stephen Tuska, the artist’s sons, and will be
installed in the museum’s “By Special Request” gallery.
It is presented in honor of the acquisition of the Tuska archive by UK Special
Collections.
TOP LEFT IMAGE:
MONICA VAN DEN DOOL
Claudia,
1996
Earthenware
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana
BOTTOM RIGHT IMAGE:
JOHN REGIS TUSKA
Torso Vessel
Glazed ceramic
Collection of Seth and Stephen Tuska
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AFRICAN
ART WITH ITS SHADOWS
Selections from the Collection of John D. Erickson
LEXINGTON, KY (February 12, 2003) – African Art with its Shadows: Selections from the Collection of John D. Erickson, an exhibition highlighting the art objects from the collection of UK faculty member John D. Erickson, will be on display at the University of Kentucky Art Museum from February 29 to May 30, 2004. The exhibition will showcase works ranging from a pair of Lwena/Chokwe sculptures from Angola, once owned by the famous sculptor Jacob Epstein, to a Baule Spirit Spouse from Côte d’Ivoire. Textual interpretations of the pieces will reveal their original contexts and at the same time, penetrate the shadows behind which they are concealed.
Inspired by a quote from noted philosopher Roland Barthes, the exhibition title suggests issues that affect how African art has been viewed in the past and how it continues to be interpreted today. Barthes writes, “There are those who want a text without a shadow, without the ‘dominant ideology’, but this is to want a text without fecundity, without productivity, a sterile text… The text needs its shadow…” Through an examination of such issues as authenticity, market value, and the politics of collecting, this exhibition will bring to light the reality that African art is not static — it evolves over time as it accumulates its life story.
The Baule Spirit Spouse, for example, has evolved from a “traditional” African formal aesthetic (such as the one included in this exhibition) into carrying guitars, having hair extensions, and wearing bikinis and wristwatches. The Lwena/Chokwe sculptures, which would have at one time been included in a Lwena chief’s royal treasury as symbols of divination and initiation, were acquired in this century by a Jewish-American sculptor working in Europe who liked their formal aesthetic qualities. Beyond this evolution, these pieces, along with the others in the exhibition, are now owned by a Lexington collector and are in a local art museum. This myriad of journeys or accumulation of shadows all work together to write the life stories of these objects. This exhibition seeks to reveal some of the chapters that comprise this life story.
Curated by eight University of Kentucky students enrolled in Professor Karen Milbourne’s “Biographies of African Art” seminar, this exhibition also includes objects from Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Collector Dr. John D. Erickson on his collection:
“African art first stirred my interest when I studied the Dada and Surrealist movements of the early twentieth-century, which were inspired by African art and culture. Indeed, several major artists outside these movements, in particular the Cubists, adopted the geometric rhythms and patterns of African sculpture. A cult of the primitive and exotic arose among avant-garde artists. Several poets and prose writers like Guillaume Apollinaire and Blaise Cendrars, who published the Anthologie nègre in 1921, contributed to this vogue.
When I spent two years teaching at the University of Morocco in the early 1970s, I came by my first piece of African art—an Ibeji twin figure from the Yoruba people in Nigeria. Its beauty, the calm and placid expression on the face of the female figure, the rich patina that came from the oils of human hands fondling it over the years, pleased me. During trips to West and Central Africa I began collecting statuary and art objects, much dating from the early twentieth century, some from the late nineteenth. The role this sculpture played in the cultural life of the people was of particular interest to me, though I could not help being attracted to the fine aesthetic sense that guided the hand of the unknown carvers.
Many of the pieces I purchased in what is occasionally called, in terms of the stylization of the sculpture, the Guinea Coast (West Africa). Often one saw bagmen carrying burlap sacks over their shoulder, filled with sculptures brought in from the bush to the larger cities such as Abidjan (the Ivory Coast) to sell. I would arrange to meet some of them somewhere where I could spread out the display of sculpture. With so many variegated pieces to choose from I felt like a chocolate-lover in a candy shop.
I also visited a number of villages in the so-called bush, where I was able to find several pieces of sculpture. Most traditional sculpture has a social or religious function. After it has served that function it becomes desacralized—a mere piece of wood, no matter how artistically fetching. The spirit inhering in it is dead. One of the more interesting functions (to me) is that of two miniature masks of the Baule people, which, when the principal mask was being used in a ceremony, were secured in the maison de masques (mask house) where they kept safeguard over the spirit of the principal mask.
The desacralization of sculpture is presumably not always successful. And for that reason I came by two masterpieces of African sculpture. It happened in Lawrence, Kansas. A close friend of mine, Edward Ruhe, who had an internationally known collection of Australian bark paintings, also collected some African statuary. During a visit one day to his apartment, he told me he was very much disturbed by a male-female pair of African sculptures that conveyed a malevolent spirit towards him—in short they disliked him. Ed was not joking. He was indeed so disturbed that he expressed the desire to trade them for some other statuary. I took an immediate interest in them and offered to trade some interesting but by no means as valuable pieces for them. Ed accepted with alacrity.
The pair, which Ed acquired from the collection of the American sculptor Jacob Epstein when it was dispersed, representing a man and a woman, comes from the Chokwe territories of Angola. They have faithfully moved with me as I have moved and have never shown any ill will towards me. They are now on display in the present exhibit and should be friendly if treated with proper deference.
The pieces of art I collected in villages in the bush no longer served a central function in religious or social ceremonies and most were considered discarded wood. Though countless sculptures were simply discarded or tossed away to be eaten by termites, a few were still preserved in the villages by members of the tribe.
Though the spirit may be gone, the African sculpture does speak to us, nonetheless, of many things—of its provenance and the function it served. The African artist, who usually carved his pieces with only a few tools, chiefly an adze (a hatchet-like instrument), set out with a firm notion of what he intended. The ornamentation is not gratuitous, meant merely to fill space in a pleasing way, but may represent body-scarification patterns, carefully calculated to blend into the visual rhythm of the piece that conveys moral and spiritual values and that serves, as one critic has put it, “as a comprehensive statement of tribal belief” and “gives concrete form to a highly organized system of thought which has its own logic and its own consistency” (Warren Robbins).
“The exhibit on display at the University of Kentucky Art Museum owes considerable to the interest and knowledge of Dr. Karen E. Milbourne and the diligent research of her art history students, who have brought many things to my attention and increased my appreciation of my own collection. I also wish to thank Director Kathy Walsh-Piper and staff of the University of Kentucky Art Museum for their interest and accommodation.”
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LEXINGTON,
KY (March 19, 2004) – The Friends of the University of Kentucky Art
Museum will present Art in Bloom 2004, April 16 through 18. This year’s
three-day event will honor Mr. John R. Gaines. Twenty-nine designers will
create arrangements based on works of art from the museum’s permanent
collection and A Ceramic Continuum: Fifty Years of the Archie Bray Influence.
Floral artists will use flowers, plants, and natural elements to interpret
artwork in new and thought-provoking ways resulting in an enchanting mixture
of art and nature.
Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m., “Martinis, Art, and Blues,” a champagne
reception, will feature art-inspired floral designs in full bloom, live music,
heavy hors d'oeuvres, and a silent auction. Valet parking will be available
at the Rose Street entrance of the Singletary Center for the Arts. Art in
Bloom’s “Martinis, Art, and Blues” tickets are $85 per person
and $150 per patron.
Sunday, April 18 at 1 p.m., “Spring Fling,” a fashion show, luncheon, and lecture will be held at UK’s Hilary J. Boone Center. Ben Page, Nashville Landscape Architect, will present a special lecture on the art of floral design. Page’s work has been published is magazines such as Veranda, Southern Accents, Gardens Illustrated, and House Beautiful. His work has also been seen on HGTV’s Secret Gardens. Art in Bloom’s “Spring Fling” tickets are $50 per person (limit 150 people).
For reservations to Saturday and Sunday events, call Amy Nelson at 859-257-6218.
Art in Bloom 2004 sponsors include: the Lexington Clinic, Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Harpel, John R. Neal, Gloria Singletary, Barbara Young, Bryant Distributing, the William Gallion Family Foundation, and the Shops at Greentree Close. Other event contributors include: LV Harkness, Greentree Antiques & Tea Room, Belle Maison Antiques, Donna Potter, Cakes by Deb, and Lois Gray.
Floral designs will be on view in the museum April 16 through 18 during regular museum hours. Viewing the flowers in the museum is free and open to the public.
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Art
at Noon: Dupré’s In the Pasture
LEXINGTON, KY (May 27, 2004) – On Wednesday, June 2, at noon, in the
University of Kentucky Art Museum’s permanent collection gallery, Joshua
Reid, UK English and art history graduate student, will present the lecture
“A Tale of Two Maids: Reading In the Pasture with Emile Zola.”
His presentation will compare Julien Dupré's painting In the Pasture to the literary masterpiece, La Terre ‘The Earth,’ written by Emile Zola, one of France’s premier novelist, just four years after Dupré completed his painting.
Art at Noon lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Deborah Borrowdale-Cox at 859-257-6199.
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Son
of John Regis Tuska to speak
about father’s work during Art at Noon
LEXINGTON, KY (March 31, 2004) – On Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at 12 noon, Seth Tuska, son of the late John Tuska, will talk about his father’s work currently on view in the museum.
Works by John Regis Tuska (1931-1998), former UK art professor and one of Kentucky’s most distinguished artists, are currently on view at the University of Kentucky Art Museum through May 30, 2004. This exhibition features many works never exhibited before, and all have been selected from the private collection of the artist’s sons.
The Tuska exhibition is
being organized to coordinate with UK Special Collections’ dedication
of the Tuska Archive on April 26, 2004. The Tuska display also complements
the museum’s special exhibition A Ceramic Continuum: Fifty Years of
the Archie Bray Influence, on view through April 25, 2004, which features
examples of work made by Tuska’s friends and peers in the field of contemporary
ceramics in America.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and
Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8
p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum
information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Interpretive Dance in Response to Sculpture at the UK Art Museum
LEXINGTON, KY (April 20, 2004) – The University of Kentucky Dance Ensemble, led by UK professor Dr. Rayma Beal, will be performing interpretive dances inspired by outdoor sculpture from the University of Kentucky Art Museum’s collection.
These short performances will be held on Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at 12 noon in the museum’s sculpture garden. The dancers will interpret Road Snake by Bob Haozous and Two Lines Oblique by George Rickey.
These performances are free and open to the public. For more information, please call Deborah Borrowdale-Cox at 859-257-6199.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Art
at Noon: AFRICAN ART WITH ITS SHADOWS
LEXINGTON, KY (April 28, 2004) – On Wednesday, May 5, at noon, Lara Baker Sedlaczek, UK student-curator of the African Art with its Shadows exhibition, will lecture on this work currently on view in the museum through May 30.
African Art with its Shadows: Selections from the Collection of John D. Erickson is an exhibition highlighting the art objects from the collection of UK faculty member John D. Erickson. The exhibition showcases works ranging from a pair of Lwena/Chokwe sculptures from Angola, once owned by the famous sculptor Jacob Epstein, to a Baule Spirit Spouse from Côte d’Ivoire. Textual interpretations of the pieces will reveal their original contexts and, at the same time, penetrate the shadows behind which they are concealed.
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Quilt
Appraisal Days at UK Art Museum
LEXINGTON, KY (May
4, 2004) – Have you ever wondered about that heirloom quilt in your
closet? Dust off the moth balls and bring it to the University of Kentucky
Art Museum Quilt Appraisal Days, May 19 and 20, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.,
in the Singletary Center's President's Room.
Quilt appraisals are valuable for insurance, tax purposes, and resale value. Helen Thompson, certified quilt appraiser and former director of the American Quilt Society Appraisal Program, will be conducting the appraisals. Thompson has over twenty-five years of quilting experience and was on the committee that developed the national certification program for quilt appraisers. Her publications include Sewing Tools and Trinkets (Volumes I and II).
Each 30-minute appointment includes a written appraisal with quilt description, value, technique, and materials used (one quilt per 30-minute appointment).
This event is $40 for UKAM members and $45 for non-members. Reservations and deposit are required; call Amy Nelson at 859-257-6218.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Lions
and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! –
Family Day at the University of Kentucky Art Museum
LEXINGTON, KY (May 11, 2004) – Join the University of Kentucky Art Museum on Sunday, May 23, 2004, from 1 to 4 p.m., for our family day event, Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Families will enjoy an
exciting day creating animal art with collage, clay, and drawing, inspired
by sculpture from our current exhibition Animals in Bronze. Other art activities
include gallery walks, storytelling, music, and refreshments.
Outdoor family day events will include:
· Special demonstrations by the Lexington Police Department Canine Unit at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
· Baby farm animals,
rabbits, lambs, chickens, a miniature horse, and a camel from Rosemary's Petting
Zoo from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
· Cambo the Clown making balloon animals from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! is free and open to the public. This family day event is made possible by the generous support of Target Stores. For more information, please call Deborah Borrowdale-Cox at 859-257-6199.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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Paul Sawyier Lecture and Ice Cream Social at UKAM
LEXINGTON, KY (May 25, 2004) – Join the UK Art Museum on Sunday, June 6, from 2 to 4 p.m., for an ice cream social celebrating the life and work of Paul Sawyier, one of Kentucky’s most treasured artists. Sawyier was widely known as "The River Artist" and was noted throughout the region for his impressionistic watercolors of local rivers and creeks.
In conjunction with the museum's display of thirteen original Sawyier watercolors, on view through September 26, Dr. Arthur Jones, author of The Art of Paul Sawyier, will give a special lecture on the art and life of the Kentucky native. Dr. Jones, currently University of North Dakota Art Department Chair and Professor, is a former UK Art Department Professor.
Each lecture attendee will receive a gift print. Tickets for the event are $10 for members and $15 for non-members. For reservations, please call 859-257-4929.
The museum’s gift shop is offering limited edition prints of North End Singing Bridge (Steeples) from the museum’s collection. These prints are provided by Paul Sawyier Galleries. Receive 30% off retail when you purchase the print during the June 6 ice cream social and lecture event.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, located on the corner of Rose St. and Euclid Ave., is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday; closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum information, call 859-257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
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New Contemporary Art at UK Art Museum
LEXINGTON,
KY (June 14, 2004) - Now on view at the University of Kentucky Art Museum
are several works by contemporary artists from the collection of Louisville
businessman Henry V. Heuser, Jr. Heuser is an active collector of contemporary
art and photography who has been a lifetime supporter of the University of
Kentucky Art Museum.
These loaned works, by Charles Arnoldi, Friedel Dzubas, Yvonne Jacquette, and Sylvia Mangold, offer a broader range of contemporary trends to the museum's permanent collection galleries:
Charles Arnoldi's works-refined arrangements of organic forms, shimmering colors, and variously sized canvases-reveal the artist's innate sense of composition and disciplined experimentation.
Associated with the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, Friedel Dzubas was a proponent of Color Field painting, a style in which painters reject the illusion of perspective and the energy of gestural brushwork in favor of applying color in a flat, even manner.
Yvonne Jacquette depicts the urban world from an aerial view. Neon signs, strings of cars on dark highways, and bright windows viewed from the top of a skyscraper or from an airplane window become the dashes of color Jacquette uses to describe light and space.
The inspiration for Sylvia
Mangold's paintings and prints derives from her immediate environment, whether
it's the geometric wooden floors of her New York City studio or the landscapes
of rural Orange County, New York. Observing nature directly, she has a discerning
eye that recognizes the grace inherent in ordinary homeliness. Her intent
is to engage the viewer in a visual experience comparable to her own.
"These works will lend a stronger visual impact to our contemporary gallery,"
commented Kathy Walsh-Piper, UK Art Museum director. "This is a remarkable
opportunity for us to showcase contemporary artists."
Also on view, through August 8, are two traveling exhibitions; Animals in Bronze: The Michael and Mary Erlanger Collection of Animalier Bronzes from the Georgia Museum of Art and Audubon's Animals: Works from the John James Audubon Museum.
Above Image:
YVONNE JACQUETTE American, born 1934
Yasukuni Dori, Tokyo II, 1986
Oil on canvas, 91 1/2 x 76 1/2"
Collection of Henry V. Heuser, Jr.
(c)Yvonne Jacquette
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Education Gallery Open at UK Art Museum
LEXINGTON,
KY (June 14, 2004) - An artist's creative touch will be on view at the University
of Kentucky Art Museum's Education Gallery this summer, June 18 through August
1. Sculptor Alexa King will display several of her compositions in the gallery,
including one large work in progress (seen at right). King's ability to capture
the unique vitality and essence of her living subjects in the fixed medium
of bronze has brought her national renown.
This gallery provides a rare opportunity to view art in progress, heightening appreciation for and understanding of animalier art. It is presented in conjunction with the museum's exhibitions, Animals in Bronze and Audubon's Animals, on view through August 8.
Also on Saturday, July 17, from 1:00-4:00 p.m., there will be a special sculpture demonstration by Alexa King. This demonstration is free and open to the public. For more information, call Deborah Borrowdale-Cox at 859.257.6199.
The summer Education Gallery is made possible through the
generous support of Cross Gate Gallery in Lexington.
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AUDUBON
WEEK AND THE UK ART MUSEUM
LEXINGTON, KY (July 12, 2004) - The UK Art Museum is celebrating two wonderful
exhibitions devoted to the beauty of animal forms: Animals in Bronze:
The Michael and Mary Erlanger Collection of Animalier Bronzes from the Georgia
Museum of Art and Audubon's Animals: Works from the John James Audubon
Museum, both on view through August 8.
During the special Audubon Week (July 13-18), the Buckley Hills Audubon Society
is partnering with the UK Art Museum to celebrate the art of John James Audubon,
artist and explorer. Buckley Hills will host a special evening reception,
free and open to the public, on Friday, July 16, from 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Audubon expert Bill Steiner, author of Audubon Art Prints: A Collector’s Guide to Every Edition, will help unravel the mysteries of what is a "real" Audubon, the various editions of Audubon prints, and how to distinguish original prints. Steiner is a field ecologist and expert bird-watcher who has compiled one of the most significant private collections of Audubon prints in the United States. An accomplished entomologist, herpetologist, and horticulturist, he holds degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. From 1994 to 1996 Steiner worked with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as the environmental chief for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
His lecture Audubon Prints — Nature, Art, History, and Money will be held Sunday, July 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the Singletary Center's Recital Hall. Directly following the lecture, join Steiner for a reception and book signing in the Art Museum. Tickets to this event are $10 for UKAM members and $15 for non-members. Call 859-257-4929 to purchase tickets.
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Opening
the Gates of Consciousness:
Art Nouveau Glass and Pottery
LEXINGTON, KY (August 16, 2004) – Opening the Gates of Consciousness: Art Nouveau Glass and Pottery, an exhibition from the collections of the UK Art Museum, Syracuse University, and private collectors, will be on display from September 5 through November 7, 2004.
This exhibition is in collaboration with the 2004 ideaFestival, an international conference (September 22-25) focused on the theme of consciousness. Opening the Gates of Consciousness will revisit Art Nouveau and the fin-de-siècle period (1885-1914), exploring how artists accessed their subconscious and unconscious psyches.
The turn of the 20th century — much like the turn of the 21st — was a time rife with apocalyptic prediction and psychological investigation. The ideas of Sigmund Freud gave rise to new artistic movements such as Symbolism. The Symbolists — writers, poets, artists and composers — formulated theories about the psychic world, particularly the dream state. Through art, music, and literature, they tried to evoke emotional states and appeal directly to the inner world of the audience through sounds, forms, colors, and textures. Paths to this synthesis of the senses included hypnotism, hallucinations (sometimes brought on by the use of drugs), dreams, and other explorations of the unconscious.
Many artists working in the Art Nouveau style, including several of the decorative artists featured in the exhibition (Émile Gallé, the Daum brothers, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frederick Carder, and Jacques Sicard), were heavily influenced by the Symbolist movement. During this period, the interior of the home was seen as a sensory environment, and interior décor became a source of psychological stimulation. Fantastical decorations were designed to replicate the vibrating, highly sensitive world of the subconscious, replacing external reality with an internal fantasy world. Art Nouveau glass and ceramic pieces, when seen in this context, take on new layers of meaning. These objects, though beautiful by themselves, were not meant to be experienced independent of the interior as a whole. The brilliant colors, sensual textures, and graceful forms of the glass and pottery were designed in conjunction with furniture, textiles, wall coverings, and other decorations to provide a sensory escape into a world of dreams, hallucinations, and the unconscious.
The legacies of Art Nouveau echo throughout the 20th and the 21st centuries, from the integrated interiors of Frank Lloyd Wright to Surrealism to the psychedelic art of the 1960s to contemporary stream-of-consciousness video art. Art Nouveau opened the gates of consciousness, allowing later generations to tap into unknown regions of the mind.
Opening the Gates of Consciousness: Art Nouveau Glass and Pottery is $8 for the general public, $5 for senior citizens, and $6 for groups (by reservation). This exhibition is free for UK Art Museum members and UK faculty, staff, and students.
The public is also invited to a French cabaret on September
10 at 7:30 p.m. in the UK Art Museum galleries. Please call 859-257-5716 for
tickets or more information.
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Art at Noon: Amy Nelson on Contemporary Art
LEXINGTON, KY (August 27, 2004) – The University of Kentucky Art Museum’s monthly Art at Noon series presents Amy Nelson, on Wednesday, September 1, at noon in the museum’s galleries. She will discuss contemporary works by Sylvia Mangold and Yvonne Jacquette in her talk “Big and Bold: Contemporary Art at the UKAM.”
Nelson currently serves as the museum’s Development Officer. She received her Master of Arts in Art History from the University of North Texas (2001). She also holds certification in Museum Education.
The contemporary works Nelson will be discussing are part of the collection of Louisville businessman Henry V. Heuser, Jr., an active collector of contemporary art and photography who has been a lifetime supporter of the University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Art at Noon is free and open to the public. For more information, call Deborah Borrowdale-Cox at 859-257-6199.
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Robert C. May Photography Endowment Lecture Series - PAUL BERGER
Photographer and professor Paul Berger will speak during the 2004-2005 University of Kentucky Art Museum’s Robert C. May Photography Endowment Lecture Series, on Friday, September 24, 2004 at 4 p.m. in Thoroughbred Hall at the Lexington Convention Center. Berger’s appearance in the series is in coordination with Lexington’s ideaFestival 2004, a conference that explores ideas and innovations across and at the intersections of diverse fields of study.
Although trained in a
classical photographic tradition, Paul Berger became interested in digital
imaging technology in 1981, when he acquired his first computer. In 1985,
he started teaching digital imaging classes at University of Washington School
of Art, where he is currently chair of the photography department. In his
numerous series, Berger has remained interested in how the mind adapts to
and is manipulated by the visual imagery of photography, television, and computers.
Berger engages the camera and the computer as machines that not only produce
predictable results, but also act autonomously. He creates complex arrangements
of digitized images from various media embracing the surrealist notion of
chance combinations of disparate elements. The resulting collages demand that
we, the viewers, question how we “read” what we see.
Born in The Dalles, Oregon, in 1948, Berger studied at UCLA (B.A. 1970) and
Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York (M.F.A. 1973). In 1978, he cofounded
the photography program at University of Washington School of Art, where he
has taught for 26 years. He has received numerous awards, including two NEA
grants, 1979 and 1986. His publications include Seattle Subtext (Visual
Studies Workshop and Real Comet Press, Seattle, 1984) and his work has been
featured in the 1990 solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum with accompanying
catalogue, Paul Berger: The Machine in the Window (1991). His newest
publication, Paul Berger: 1973-2003, was published in conjunction
with the 2003 retrospective exhibition organized by Museum of Contemporary
Photography in Chicago. Currently, Berger lives in Seattle, Washington.
The lecture series is sponsored by the Robert C. May Photography Endowment, an Art Museum fund established in 1994 for the support of acquisitions and programs relating to photography.
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UK Art Museum Awarded Prestigious IMLS Grant
LEXINGTON, KY (October 13, 2004) – Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the University of Kentucky Art Museum has secured a grant of $130,000 to organize a painting exhibition entitled Barbizon to Brittany: Landscapes of France in Bluegrass Collections.
Barbizon to Brittany will be on view in the fall of 2006, accompanied by an exhibition catalogue. This exhibition will provide a unique opportunity for Bluegrass audiences to see exceptional French art, and, at the same time, will bring new scholarship and understanding to the objects. Complimenting this exhibition, special educator resources will be made available to K-12 teachers and students and family activities will be scheduled.
“We are most grateful to the IMLS for this grant, the largest ever received by the UK Art Museum,” said Kathy Walsh-Piper, museum director. “It recognizes our progress as a museum and will help us to take our exhibitions to a new level and to reach out to the community.”
Museums for America, IMLS’s largest grant program, provides more than $16 million in grants to support the role of museums in American society. The funds strengthen the ability of museums to serve the public more effectively by supporting high-priority activities that advance the institution’s mission and strategic goals. The flexible grants can be used by a museum for ongoing activities, research, planning and behind-the-scenes work, new programs, the purchase of equipment or services, or technology upgrades and integration to improve overall institutional effectiveness. The grants increase the capacity of museums to sustain our cultural heritage, support lifelong learning, and serve as centers of community engagement.
The Institute of Museum and Library services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities.
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ENGAGING
REPRESENTATIONS:
Contemporary Art from The Speed Art Museum
LEXINGTON, KY – Engaging Representations: Contemporary Art from The Speed Art Museum will be on display December 12, 2004, through March 6, 2005, at the University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Twenty-one works on view from the collection of Louisville's Speed Art Museum offer a profound and provocative exploration of how the world in which we live today is represented in art. The exhibition includes paintings, sculpture, and photographs by nineteen artists from across the globe. Focused on the examination of physical and cultural environments, the exhibition presents subject matter from abstract emanations of land-and cityscapes to incisive social and historical critiques. Engaging Representations also illustrates the influences of art history and the mass media, and the roles these visual agents play in creating meaning and shaping cultural identities.
The frenetic energy of urban life springs forth from Catherine Yass's lightbox image of a blurred, brightly colored cityscape; the rows of windows and walls and the frenzied intersection of humanity with the constructed urban environment is echoed again in UK art professor Arturo Alonzo Sandoval's Cityscape #6. The compelling blend of architecture, sculpture, and furniture that characterizes the work of the Cuban artists known as Los Carpinteros suggests the compartmentalization of city dwellers, while also critiquing the bureaucratic vision of twentieth-century urban planners, as well as the ideals of Modernism.
Allusions to and appropriations from art history animate the works of Cindy Sherman and Vik Muniz. Sherman casts herself as Madame de Pompadour in a “send-up” critique of both women's roles and eighteenth-century portraiture. Muniz's provocative photographic constructions recycle masterpieces by Théodore Géricault and Caspar David Friedrich, while also alluding to Jackson Pollock's paintings.
Engaging Representations also examines the construction of historical identity and the confluence of power, politics, and ritual in creating and preserving cultural legacies. Artists such as Carrie Mae Weems expose, debunk, and transform stereotypes of gender and race in their poetic and provocative works. Both current and archival images are used in her works to demonstrate how photographs, which are so often considered purveyors of truth, create misleading mythologies of history and identity. Weems's works, along with Louis Zoellar Bickett's Family Grave Dirt, demonstrate our need to preserve and memorialize our past and present identity.
“We are grateful to The Speed Art Museum for this opportunity to showcase cutting edge works to our visitors,” said Kathy Walsh-Piper, museum director.
Engaging Representations is organized by The Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, in coordination with the University of Kentucky Art Museum and curated by Alice Stites, The Speed Art Museum Adjunct Curator. This exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation and the Friends of the University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Engaging Representations is free and open to the public. A special Artists and Members Preview will be held December 11 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the museum’s galleries. This event is free to artists and UK Art Museum members. Please call 859-257-5716 for more information regarding this preview event.
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