suart galleries-fall 2013
DESCRIPTION
The Syracuse University Art Galleries semi annual newsletter for the summer and fall of 2013.TRANSCRIPT
New
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NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtIONOpening september 5
FAll 2013/vol VII
wHAt’s INsIde:Notes from the directorPrint Making Revolution: Mexican Prints and the Taller de Gráfica PopularFall 2013 CalendarOn the road with trAVeXP.A.l. Project/Henninger Art Class: Voices Heard and Celebratedrecent Acquisitions: robert Birmelin
Exhibition/Education/collEction suart.syr.eduS y ra c u s e u n i v e rs i t y a r t G a l l e r i e s / S h a f fe r a r t b u i l d i n g / S y ra c u s e , n e w Yo r k 1 3 2 4 4
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
ART GALLERIES
the sUArt Galleries is presenting a series of exhibitions for the 2013-2014 academic
year that is truly international in scope. Beginning with Nyumba ya Sanaa: Works from
the Maryknoll Collection and A World Apart: Art from the Samuel T. Pees Collection, the
Galleries will also be presenting programming that is international in scope. Our sUArt
Film series selections and the speakers we are bringing to campus during the academic
year will also fit into our international theme.
In 2012, the syracuse University Art Galleries was chosen as a
repository for the Maryknoll Collection, a gift of the Maryknoll
sisters that included more than 170 original works of art by
twenty-two tanzanian artists. the collection contains artwork
created at Nyumba ya Sanaa (swahili for “House of Art”), a
community cultural center and art workshop located in dar es
salaam, tanzania. Founded in 1972 by sister Jean Pruitt and
the Maryknoll Order, Nyumba ya Sanaa’s (NYS) mission was to
support local artists, and to help them display and sell their
works, among other cultural activities. NYS also participated in
vocational training in the arts, including arts and crafts, fine art
paintings, sculpture and wood carving, modeling plaster and
cutting metal. Among alumni from the NYS school are world
famous artists George lilanga, robino Ntila, and Francis Patrick
Imanjama, each of whom were invited by numerous european
galleries to exhibit their works. through the years, Nyumba
ya Sanaa emerged not only as a school for artists, but also a
cultural attraction for tanzania that attracted dignitaries and
royalty, including Prince Charles of wales.
NOtes FrOM tHe dIreCtOr
Nyumba ya Sanaa: Works from the Maryknoll Collection will
introduce the Central New York community to tanzanian
artwork created in the last quarter of the 20th century.
the exhibition will present 90 pieces of original artwork
featuring a breadth of media including painting, sculpture
and printmaking, and highlight over a dozen artists. Also on
display in the Galleries will be artwork created by Henninger
High school students who have been inspired by the tanzanian
exhibition. this student display, Henninger Art Class: Voices
Heard and Celebrated is the result of community collaboration
between the sUArt Galleries, Henninger High school Art
teacher lori lizzio, and stephen Mahan of the Photography
and literacy (P.A.l.) Project.
Along with Nyumba ya Sanaa we will feature an exhibition of
international art that highlights work gifted to the University by
collector samuel t. Pees. A World Apart: Art from the Samuel
T. Pees Collection presents original artwork featuring a breadth
september 5 – October 20, 2013NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtION
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continued on 4
George lilanga, I Can Remember, 1977
cover:Phidelis Hassan Kamwona, untitled [Makonde, Hunger figure], c1990
domenic Iacono, director
tHe PAlItZ GAllerY/NYC
strange Victories: Grove Press 1951-1985NOVeMBer 18, 2013 – FeBrUArY 6, 2014the Palitz Gallery
taking its title from the film Strange Victory, which was
collaboratively produced by Barney rosset (who would
become the dominant force behind Grove Press) and the left-
wing documentary filmmaker leo Hurwitz after world war II,
this exhibition traces the history of America’s most notorious
publishing house.
From its role at the center of national censorship trials over Lady
Chatterley’s Lover to its publication of politically engaged works
such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as well as its avant-
garde and sometimes scandalous Film division, each of Grove’s
projects, the exhibition reveals, was in its own way a “strange
victory.” For while Grove altered the American literary landscape
and challenged existing notions of social mores, equality, and
freedom of expression, Grove also deployed savvy marketing
strategies seemingly at odds with its avant-garde values, became
embroiled in union battles, and floundered in its own successes.
Strange Victories: Grove Press 1951–1985 offers a glimpse into
the complicated story of Grove’s many literary and political
achievements, some of which continue to exert a profound
influence on American culture today.
reMBrANdt: the Consummate etcher and other 17th century PrintmakerssePteMBer 16 – NOVeMBer 14, 2013the Palitz Gallery
the syracuse University Art Galleries is proud to present
Rembrandt: The Consummate Etcher and Other 17th Century
Printmakers. this exhibition is a celebration of louise and
Bernard Palitz and their association with the syracuse
University Art Galleries. In the mid-1980s louise and Bernard
Palitz made their first gift to the syracuse University Art
Collection and over the next 25 years they became ardent
supporters of syracuse University and our arts programs.
About ten years ago they gave us funds to renovate the gallery
space at lubin House and established an endowment to help
it operate as an exciting venue for the University in New York
City. during its short existence the Palitz Gallery has presented
exhibitions that displayed the work of william Blake, James
whistler, Albert Maysles, winslow Homer, and of course, our
2008 landmark exhibition: Michelangelo: the Man and the Myth.
this display primarily utilizes the holdings of the syracuse
University Art Collection and explores the impact of one of
europe’s most important artists on the printmakers of his day.
this project, which grew out of a series of lectures for the Museum
studies Graduate class Curatorship and Connoisseurship of Prints,
demonstrates the value of a study collection as a teaching tool that
can extend outside the classroom.
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rembrandt Harmensz van rijn, Self Portrait Drawing at a Window, 1648
of media from oil and acrylic painting to relief printmaking
and dye batiks. the exhibition highlights over 20 artists, with
nationalities as diverse as Haitian, Paraguayan, Indonesian,
thai, Grand Cayman, and Malaysian. this is the first exhibition
to examine artwork in the Pees Collection since 1989.
In 1988, samuel Pees made a substantial gift of over 250
original pieces of artwork to the syracuse University Art
Collection, followed by another gift of additional artwork in
the mid-1990s. An alumnus of syracuse University, samuel
Pees earned his master’s degree in Geology in 1959. As a
professional consultant, Pees was able to travel frequently to
south America, latin America, Indonesia and the southeast. It
was during these travels that he actively acquired his collection
of artwork, which includes work by well-known artists tohny
Joesoef and Jacinto rivero.
these exhibitions will run september 5- October 20, 2013.
the permanent exhibition galleries will host exhibitions that
acknowledge our international theme. the Gallery of American
Art will present America’s Calling, a yearlong display of work
made by artists who relocated to the United states. these
immigrant artists have had a profound effect on how we view
the world and ourselves. the Print and Photography study
rooms will each display works from the collection that explore
the artwork, landscape and people of Japan.
In November our main exhibition will be Print Making
Revolution: Mexican Prints and the Taller de Gráfica Popular,
focusing on the work produced at that influential workshop
in Mexico City during the political and social unrest of the
post-Mexican revolution. these prints advanced a variety of
revolutionary ideals and causes, including the formation of
organized labor, the fight for civil rights, and an active campaign
against fascism.
Also on view in our second display period will be Paul strand’s
famous Mexican Portfolio, which includes photogravure
impressions of people, landscapes, architecture, and religious
objects that he encountered in Mexico during his travels there
in 1932. strand, like many of the artists who were making art
at the Taller de Gráfica Popular print studio, worked on these
photographs during the period when the post-revolution
government was trying to establish a modern national culture
that would capture Mexico’s unique character.
In 1967 Albert delong printed these photogravures from the
original plates under the supervision of the artist Paul strand
who was a passionate advocate for the medium. For this
portfolio of images strand asked the famous Mexican artist
david siquieros to write a preface for the project. In it siquieros
called strand’s images “the most objective art of our time.”
these exhibitions will open November 7, 2013 and run through
January 12, 2014.
the international year continues in the spring semester with
an exhibition from January 30- March 16, 2014 titled Mithila
Painting: The Evolution of an Art Form featuring a selection of
images made by women in the Mithila region of northern India.
rich in color and infused with vibrant forms these paintings
describe gods from the Hindu Pantheon and illustrate
indigenous stories both old and new.
we will also turn our attention to south Africa and the
contemporary art scene there. recent work by several
Johannesburg artists including william Kentridge, diane Victor
and others will be on view.
More to come about these exhibitions in our next newsletter.
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roechiyat, Before the Bharata Yudha War, 1973
November 7, 2013 – January 12, 2014PrINt MAKING reVOlUtION:Mexican Prints and the taller de Gráfica Popular
In Mexico City, during the political and social unrest of the post-Mexican revolution, the art of the print had an undeniable
impact on the everyday lives of the struggling people’s history and culture. this exhibition will introduce the Central New
York community to the important artists and artwork produced at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (the People’s Graphic
workshop), or TGP. Founded by leopoldo Méndez, luis Arenal and American born Pablo O’Higgins, this influential
workshop advanced a variety of revolutionary ideals and causes, including the formation of organized labor, the fight for
civil rights, and an active campaign against fascism.
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Angel Bracho, Victoria! Los Artistas de Taller de Grafica... ,1945. Courtesy of the University of New Mexico Art Museum
leopoldo Méndez, Homage to José Guadalupe Posada. Courtesy of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
CAleNdAr/eXHIBItIONs
sePteMBer 5 – OCtOBer 20, 2013Main GalleryOPeNING reCePtION: tHUrsdAY, sePteMBer 5, 20135:00–7:00 P.M.
NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtIONthe study Gallery
A wOrld APArt: Art from the samuel t. Pees Collection
sePteMBer 16 – NOVeMBer 14, 2013the Palitz Gallery
reMBrANdt: the Consummate etcher17th CeNtUrY dUtCH PrINtMAKINGA leCtUre BY NAdINe OreNsteINCurator, department of drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art
OCtOBer 15, 2013 7:00 pmsyracuse University lubin House
NOVeMBer 18, 2013 – FeBrUArY 6, 2014the Palitz Gallery
strange Victories: Grove Press 1951-1985
NOVeMBer 7, 2013 – JANUArY 14, 2014Main Gallery OPeNING reCePtION: tHUrsdAY, NOVeMBer 14, 20135:00–7:00 P.M.
PrINt MAKING reVOlUtION:Mexican Prints and the taller de Gráfica Popular
PAUl strANd: the Mexican Portfolio
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sePteMBer 5, 2013 – MAY 11, 2014
the Photography study room
VIsIONs FOr sAle:Photographs of Nineteenth Century Japanthe Gallery of American Art
AMerICA’s CAllINGthe Print study room
UKIYO-e tO sHIN HANGA:Japanese woodcuts in the syracuse University Art Collection
Paul strand, Boy - Uruapan, 1933
unkown artist, [An actor in the dress of the feudal court], c1890
CAleNdAr/edUCAtION
lUNCHtIMe leCtUreswednesdays at 12:15
september 11Gallery tour: Nyumba Ya Sanaa with domenic Iacono
september 18Gallery tour: Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga with Andrew saluti
september 25Gallery tour: Visions For Sale with david Prince
October 2Gallery tour: A World Apart with domenic Iacono
October 9Gallery tour: America’s Calling with david Prince
October 16Gallery tour: Voices Heard and Celebrated with domenic Iacono
November 13Gallery tour: Print Making Revolution with Andrew saluti
November 20Gallery tour: The Mexican Portfolio with emily dittman
december 4From the Collection: Robert Birmelin with david Prince
FIlM serIesseCONd sUNdAYs BeGINNING IN OCtOBer2:00 P.M., shemin Auditorium, shaffer Art Building
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OCtOBer 13
Midnight in Paris2011, directed by woody Allen
NOVeMBer 10
Orozco: Man of Fire2007, directed by laurie Coyle
deCeMBer 8
Ai weiwei: Never sorry2012, directed by Alison Klayman
saturday, October 12 sunday, October 132:00 P.M.Nyumba ya Sanaa and A World Apart
saturday, November 16 sunday, November 172:00 P.M.Print Making Revolution
ON tHe rOAd/trAVeX
An American in Venice: James McNeill whistler and His legacy tHe ArKell MUseUM
2 erie Boulevard, Canajoharie, New York 13317
July 28 – October 20, 2013
this exhibit places eleven of James McNeill whistler’s Venetian
etchings alongside the work of followers who were practicing in
Italy in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. the
juxtaposition allows the viewer to appreciate both whistler’s
innovations and the different ways in which his work affected the
artists who followed him.
Karl schrag: Memories and PremonitionstHe elIZABetH MYers MItCHell GAllerY
st. John’s College
60 College Ave, Annapolis, Md 21404
August 28 – October 13, 2013
the art in Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions conveys the
artist’s ability to see the landscape as if for the first time, the
surprise of that special view, the recognition of his ability to
feel wonder when looking at nature or figure, and the reward
associated with seeing the world through his eyes.
Pure Photography: Pictorial and Modern Photographs from the syracuse University Art CollectionMArIANNA KIstler BeACH MUseUM OF Art
Kansas state University
Manhattan, Ks 66506
August 27 – November 24, 2013
As more individuals began using cameras, the idea grew that
photography could be a form of art in addition to a form of
documentation. this captured the attention of many artists, most
notably Alfred stieglitz, who formed the Photo secession and
helped establish Pictorialism.
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the syracuse University Art Galleries traveling exhibition
Program [trAVeX] has been offering affordable exhibitions
to museums and university art galleries for over twenty
years, generated from syracuse University’s encyclopedic art
collection and collaborating institutions.
leArN MOre / travex.syr.edu
Pressing Print: Universal limited Art editions 2000-2010tHOrNe - sAGeNdOrPH Art GAllerY
Keene state College
229 Main street, Keene, New Hampshire 03435
september 20 – december 8, 2013
Pressing Print chronicles the recent decade of artwork published by
the renowned American printmaking workshops, Universal limited
Art editions. the exhibition brings together new print works made
by the vanguards of 20th century American Art with the emerging
artists recently selected to collaborate at Universal.
the Artist revealed: Artist Portraits and self-PortraitsHeArst Art GAllerY
saint Mary’s College of California
1928 saint Mary’s road, Moraga, CA 94575
October 12 – december 15, 2013
An exhibition of fifty works in a variety of media that examine
self-portraits and portraits of other artists. Included in the show
are works by Milton Avery, Chuck Close, leonard Baskin, edward
steichen, Norman rockwell, and Anders Zorn.
Art in the detail: 20th Century Masters of PhotographywIdeNer UNIVersItY Art GAllerY
One University Place
Chester, PA 19013
November 9 – december 14, 2013
this exhibition of 30 photographs explores texture, light, and the
interplay of these qualities in the work of established and emerging
masters of photography.
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P.A.l. PrOJeCt/edUCAtIONHeNNINGer Art ClAss: VOICes HeArd ANd CeleBrAtedCOllABOrAtION tHrOUGH tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtION
this project enthralled my students from the beginning. they
connected to it through the story, the history, the artwork as
well as the project itself. the idea was to have my students
develop a personal connection to the exhibit’s artwork, and
create a piece of artwork reflecting that connection. we felt
inspiration could be found in documenting everyday life. they
used cameras to tell their stories and from those pictures, used
editing software to create artwork.
students were inspired by the exhibit’s artwork. they found
similarities and familiar relationships. Giving my students a
project that asked them to visually “speak” freely about their
life, friends, boyfriends, etc., was a very cathartic and rewarding
process. I enjoyed watching their artistic styles emerge and
their confidence grow with this opportunity. My students could
also appreciate the opportunity to participate, as it related to
the Maryknoll sisters giving people a place to create art when
there was no other opportunity to do so. this class is the only
opportunity that many of these students have to create as well.
Using other people’s artwork and finding personal connections
brings the common language of art into the classroom.
the students were able to see that all artists tell stories, in
many different ways. they felt that every voice is heard and
important. that was my favorite part of this project. My
students were so proud. so proud of the pictures that they
created and the process they went through to create them.
the excitement of participating in this exhibit and taking the
pictures, learning to edit them and using the technology to
create art really drove this project. they spent a lot of time
working on it, and had fun in the process. they were in great
dialogues about it beyond class time, as well as during class.
the artwork is an honest look at the voices of my students. the
collection tells their stories, in more layers than I think they
realize. I am a proud teacher of what they had to say.
It was such a cool project; one that my students felt
represented who they are, and what they want to say. their
voices were heard and celebrated. I am forever grateful for that
opportunity provided to them.
lOrI lIZZIO
Henninger High school
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Henninger High school student sierra Vespi
In 1979 the University Art Collection acquired robert Birmelin’s
painting, Night Driving, 1964. the easel sized acrylic on canvas
was only occasionally seen by students until the Art Collection
began participating in First Year Forum, a university program
designed to introduce incoming College of Arts and sciences
students to different parts of campus. Visiting Forum classes
were encouraged to decipher the painting’s ambiguous, non-
linear narrative and talk about how visual communications
differed from other forms of communication. After brief periods
of clear discomfort (because few had ever spent any time looking
closely at works of art) students warmed to the assignment.
Groups spent an average of ninety minutes analyzing and
discussing the image, its content and possible meanings.
A recent conversation with the artist prompted his interest in
adding another work to the permanent collection. A series of
studio visits revealed his long term involvement with intaglio
printmaking that began in his student days at Yale working with
Gabor Peterdi. An offer was extended, and accepted, to develop
a more comprehensive gift that would better illustrate Birmelin’s
involvement with the medium. Bob developed a group of
twenty-five prints describing his work from 1955 through 2007.
Additionally, the artist’s son agreed to donate in 2014 Harsh
Truths, 1988, a suite of five etchings and aquatints.
An early etching, Remembrance of Europe, 1959, describes the
artist’s experimentation with ambiguous designs. A dark, multi-
storied stone building obliquely fills the background of an Italian
piazza in front of which is parked an automobile. two men
reCeNt ACQUIsItIONs/COlleCtIONrOBert BIrMelIN
standing on the left side of a shallow balcony look out over the
square just as a figure tumbles past from an upper story. Below
them another figure’s arms emerge from the left foreground and
rests on a café table complete with a cup and saucer. the hands
are placed carefully to either side of a plate behind a group of
nondescript folded papers. In sharp contrast to the heavily
etched building façade, the foreground’s figurative elements,
table and place setting are lightly delineated, thereby balancing
the composition’s visual weight.
later prints often incorporate urban or domestic settings
as backdrops for visually bizarre figurative combinations.
translucent figurative elements are superimposed over other
bodies in fantastical arrangements. Runner’s World, from Harsh
Truths, portrays a monumental mustachioed face materializing
over an urban street scene. the face crops the upper half of a
pedestrian and the back of an adjacent figure’s head but the
background (sidewalk stores and their signage) remains visible.
In other prints, Birmelin divides the picture plane into segments
to create separate, yet integrated compositions depending on the
paper’s orientation.
Further examination of the gift reveals the artist’s curiosity in
intaglio and his exploration of the medium’s techniques. what
predominates is Birmelin’s interest in line and tone as opposed
to color. His deft manipulation of the etcher’s needle creates rich
black marks that are characteristic of the medium. In this respect
Birmelin’s etchings refer back to his drawings and his lifelong
interest in line as a mode of expression.
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robert Birmelin, Remembrance of Europe, 1959
eXHIBItION.
edUCAtION.
COlleCtION.
ArttHe
OF GIVING
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