ART MAJORS PARTY - MAY 1st in the afternoon from 4-6 pm

Thanks to Lynsey for designing the poster:)

Countdown to London: Meeting today @ 12:15 in the Art Building

Countdown....11 months

Where will you want to go once in London?

See earlier posts here: 

From our last meeting, March 25, 2013

From 2012 posting...

From 2011

Red Herring, Exhibition Featuring Georgetown Alumni This Friday at LoT in Lexington

On view at Land of Tomorrow, Lexington
Closing reception at 5pm on Friday, April 27th

Land of Tomorrow, in coordination with the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Department, is pleased to announce Red Herring, an exhibition of recent graduate level work by Jackson Bullock, Peggy Coots, Michael J. Hamilton, Ivy Johnson, Trey Jolly, David N. Martin, and Mayuresh Moghe, produced under instructor Joel Feldman. There will be a closing reception on Saturday, April 27th at 5pm.

Red Herring – A fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented to divert attention from the original issue.

Each of the artists in this exhibition and their instructor often explore issues of red herring in terms of art making, whether consciously or unconsciously. Although the artists individually explore their own red herring and how it relates to their art making, they acknowledge that their understanding of the term may differ from one another, the instructor, and their audience. The title of this exhibition can possibly be viewed as the group’s communal red herring.

Land of Tomorrow
527 E 3rd St., Lexington, KY 40508
233 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40201

Gavin Turk

Students in the art history survey course this week will enter the later 20th century with the hope of being able to reach into the 21st century. Picasso, Warhol, Rauschenberg, Chicago, Sayre, Riley — many names that are familiar to all in the artworld come from the modern era.

As a professor, though, it's always a challenge in any survey course to cover all of the content you are supposed to cover. As a student, it's a whirlwind of artists and maybe, if we're lucky, we'll spend 10 minutes on your favorite artist. If we're lucky!

To make that bridge between Dada and the 21st century, we'll watch a clip of the Charlie Rose show featuring an interview with Gavin Turk. Take a peek:

Gavin Turk on Charlie Rose-- to watch click here.

Calling Jonathan.....

The picture says it all. Jonathan (class of '07 and the first 'unofficial' art history major): this is so "you!!"

Read the article here.

Happy Plate

In the culinary world, 'plating' food is almost as important as the taste.  Jean-Francois de Witte, editorial photographer, has taken this concept to the next level.  de Witte playfully creates creatures and figures from flatware and ordinary kitchenware.  Using these everyday objects turns the kitchen into a whimsical world where the imagination can wander.  Check out more images here.

Opportunity: Lecture on Math and Art

"Algorithms Meet Art, Puzzles, and Magic," on Wednesday, April 24, at 5 p.m. in the Worsham Auditorium of the UK Student Center with Erik Demaine, MIT. A reception at 6:30 p.m. at the Art Museum in the Singletary Center will feature an exhibition of works by Erik and Martin Demaine.

Abstract of talk: When I was six years old, my father Martin Demaine and I designed and made puzzles as the Erik and Dad Puzzle Company, which we distributed to toy stores across Canada. So began our journey into the interactions between algorithms and the arts (here, puzzle design). More and more, we find that our mathematical research and artistic projects converge, with the artistic side inspiring the mathematical side and vice versa. Mathematics itself is an art form, and through other media such as sculpture, puzzles, and magic, the beauty of mathematics can be brought to a wider audience. These artistic endeavors also provide us with deeper insights into the underlying mathematics, by providing physical realizations of objects under consideration, by pointing to interesting special cases and directions to explore, and by suggesting new problems to solve (such as the metapuzzle of how to solve a puzzle). This talk will give several examples in each category, from how our first font design led to building transforming robots, to how studying curved creases in origami led to sculptures at MoMA.

The audience will be expected to participate in some live magic demonstrations. Visit http://erikdemaine.org/ to learn more about Erik Demaine. 

Non-Discrimination Week

@GCNonDisc
#GCNonDisc
Events and A Campus Teach-In coming April 18-27th

Join Dr. Decker's Women, Art, Objects, and Histories students in the Hall of Fame Room, Weds. April 24th at 12:30 pm for a discussion of museums that foreground minority perspectives. More events here...And, read the petition here.

Field Trip Report: Kentucky's Governor's Mansion

Good news, bad news.....Good news - the Speed Museum is undergoing renovation and expansion. Bad news - the Speed Museum is closed until 2015. What's an art historian supposed to do? Follow the art! 

William Mason Brown (American, 1828-1898)
Peaches, about 1870
Oil on Canvas. Gift of Mrs. Hattie Bishop Speed. 1927.28 on view at the Governor's Mansion

Follow the Kentucky Collection to the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort for an exhibit curated by independent scholar Estill Curtis Pennington. 

front of the mansion, to the East of the Capitol Building

On view until late April 2013, you'll find early nineteenth-century portraitists, including Asa Park's contemporary Matthew Harris Jouett, among later artists, including still life painter William Mason Brown and genre painters Mary Spencer Nay and Lucy Diecks who aimed to document myriad aspects of Kentucky life. Our guide was David Buchta, from the Division of Historic Properties. His tour and explanation was fantastic. And, he gave us time to wander the first floor on our own. What a treat!

Paul Sawyier's Wapping Street
(a reproduction of which hangs in
the Ensor Learning Resource Center at Georgetown College)

This trip would not have been possible without our colleague, Prof. Kincer, who chauffeured us to the mansion. Thank you, Darrell!

A souvenir gathered by Prof. Kincer

And, a hearty welcome, as always to Emeritus Prof. Doug Griggs who is always welcome on these tours because he's a general fan of art and because he knows American architecture. 

Our lively tour group of art history survey students and special guest star Shawn

This concludes our list of "official" art history/curatorial field trips this semester.  So, if you've missed these opportunities to the Governor's Mansion, the Contemporary Art Center, 21c, the Taft Art Museum, or the Loudoun House, try to visit one or more of these locations on your own this summer! There will be plenty of opportunities in store for the fall, as well. Join us!

This morning: Wilson @ the Wilson

Today we enjoyed the visit of Bob Wilson, chief donor to the Art Department at Georgetown College, to our house—the Wilson Building. See photo below. It's always a pleasure to welcome alumni and new friends to the building.

THANK YOU for your support of the Art Department and its programs.
It's your home too!

Michele, Bob, with students Mallory, Tayler, Alex, Ariel, and Steven
along with Boris and me

More photos about the public art mural being created by Boris' Impasto Painting class will be posted soon. As you can see from the photos, the priming was just underway this morning. Given our gallery is 65' from north to south, you can get a sense of this project's dimensions from the photo. Put simply, every inch of the gallery is in use! 

Are you a MAKER?

In celebration of Women's History Month, PBS showed their documentary "MAKERS: Women Who Make America." We're watching part of the video in my WST/ART seminar, "Women, Art, Objects, and Histories" and we'll be discussing the film next week for those interested in contributing to the discussion. The film includes interviews with Sandra Day O'Connor, Betty Friedan, Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Marlo Thomas, and Erica Jong who share their memories, as do countless women who challenged the status quo in industries from the airline industry and communications fields to coal-mining and medicine.

Watch Part One: Awakening on PBS. See more from Makers: Women Who Make America.

Think back to your history classes. During WWII, women took on very important roles in the military effort. Over time, women became advantaged by education; and yet, they did not have a shot for a better opportunity. For instance, young adult author Judy Blume recollects how she hung her diploma over the washing machine as a young, college grad which pays heed to the expectation that women would take the single role of a cheerful wife after school. Blume wanted to have another role, too: she wanted to write and, as a result, faced humiliation from her neighbors. Consider, too, how "back in the day" across the US, "help wanted" ads were divided by gender: pink crds for women to fill out; blue cards for men to fill out. In contrast to the disparity faced by women versus men, African American women were even more disenfranchised. Their opportunities were much lower paying.

Watch part one above and catch a glimpse of a true interdisciplinary film that touches on politics, economics, careers, and culture.

Opportunity: Sojourn Arts & Culture Residency Program

The vision of Sojourn Arts & Culture’s Residency Program is to disciple and equip artists through an intensive season of community-based creative work.
We offer a 3 month program (June-August) and a 9 month program (September-May) for up to four makers.

Artists of all kinds (visual, music, writing, etc.) are invited to apply, though a preference toward visual artists will exist due to the kind of resources we have to offer.
Residencies will be awarded by Mike Cosper and Michael Winters based upon the (1) artist’s previous work, (2) proposed work, (3) written statement reflecting the artist’s relationship to Christ and the church, and (4) ability to commit the appropriate time.

DEADLINE FOR SUMMER 2013 APPLICATION: May 10, 2013

DEADLINE FOR 9 MONTH PROGRAM BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 2013: July 1, 2013

Applicants may apply to both seasons.

Sojourn will offer residents:
- studio space to work in the 930 Mary St. facility (3rd floor classroom), plus access to woodshop, framing equipment, photo darkroom
- keyed access to the studio space
- monthly group dinners
- an exhibit at the end of their residency sharing and celebrating the new work publicly.
- note: Housing is not included in this residency. We are hoping to add that benefit in the future, but we are not able to at this time.

Residents will commit to:
- a minimum of 15 hours per week studio time
- regular participation in monthly dinners
- completion of a public workshop, class, or community project during the residency
- an interview with photographs to be published online
- a finished artwork of their choosing donated to Sojourn at the end of the residency
- abiding by basic rules regarding space-sharing etiquette and hours of entry
- participation in a liturgical art project for Sojourn (9 month program only)

If you have any questions, contact us.
Or, if you’re ready to apply, click the appropriate link below -
Sojourn Arts & Culture Residency Application – Summer 2013 
Sojourn Arts & Culture Residency Application – Fall 2013 – Spring 2014

Which is Which

Nothing says art like a little competition, right?! Prof. Daniel Graham challenged his students to a duel (let's hope no one is a notary*). On one side is Graham and the other are the students... Can you figure out which is which? Who will come out on top?

 

*When you become a notary in the State of Kentucky you have to promise to not be involved in a duel.  Truth. 

"I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute, to the best of my ability, the office of notary public according to law; and I do further solemnly swear that since the adoption of the present Constitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State, nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God."

Field Trip Report: Cincinnati 3/23/2013

Hema Upadhyay, Modernization (detail), 2013

Students in the Women, Art, Objects, and Histories course travelled to Cincinnati last weekend to visit the Taft Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Center. These visits were our third and fourth experiential learning opportunities this semester. The first was the exhibition on diversity held in the Cochenour Gallery and the second was the juror's talk at the Lexington Art League for the Nude show.

Hema Upadhyay, Modernization, 2013

This time around, we visited three exhibitions and some students even ventured for a fourth, by taking in the NEW 21c hotel and museum on Sixth Street. The day was full of contemporary art, and our focus was on art created with special attention to the minority perspective - whether African American, Indian; affluent or impoverished; "traditional" or "new" media.

At the Contemporary Art Center, we viewed the work of two Indian artist, Hema Upadhyay and Atul Dodiya. In Upadhyay's work, the artist has recreated an aerial view of the Indian slum Dharavi on the floor of second floor galleries of the CAC. The work is made up of building materials common to this type of structure, including aluminum, scrap metal, enamel paint, plastic sheets, and found objects. The work takes on the appearance of a quilt, and draws viewers in for a closer look. One point that we observed was the protrusion of religious structures above the horizon line.

Hema Upadhyay, Modernization, 2013

The second exhibition at the CAC that we visited was the installation by Atul Dodiya, also India, of metal store front shutters salvaged from the streets of Mumbai. Upadhyay was a student of Dodiya's, and this is evident through their use of subject matter and found object aesthetic. Yet, Dodiya's work contains numerous references to canon(s) in Western art history.

Atul Dodiya

We also learned about the architecture of the CAC, the first museum designed by a female in the US. The 5-story building was designed by Zaha Hadid, completed in 2003. To draw in pedestrian movement from the surrounding areas and create a sense of dynamic public space, the entrance, lobby and open area in the foyer are organized as an "urban carpet," as seen in the ground beneath us.

Gathered before the tour, we are situated on Hadid's "urban carpet." Special guest stars

Prof. Doug Griggs and Adam Johnston, GC '02, and

Laura Stewart, former GC Gallery Director, joined us!

De-briefing outside of the Driskell exhibition at the Taft.

Across downtown, at the Taft, we took in the exhibition "African American Art since 1950: Perspectives from the David C. Driskell Center" which offered a range of works from the collection of scholar, curator and artist, David Driskell. It is seen as the counterpart to the earlier exhibition he curated entitled "Two Centuries of Black American Art" which focused on c. 1750-1950. Here, works of the past 60 years from Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Bettye Saar, and Sam Gilliam on view along with Kara Walker, Willie Cole, and Radcliffe Bailey offering a range of mediums, including paintings, sculpture, prints, collage, photography, and mixed media.

Both exhibitions are on view for a few more weeks. They are worth the time to visit because they offer perspectives that are not often the sole focus of an exhibition; and yet their very existence asks us to question if we homogenize our view because works are shown together. In response to this dichotomy, we followed up our visit with a discussion last Monday in class. Among many topics we shared our perspectives on whether or not we, ourselves, were "critical museum visitors" or "ideal" or "typical" ones.  These classifications enable us to reflect on how much we engaged with the material as well as the entire landscape of the exhibitions, activities that require more than just looking.