PAST EXHIBITIONS 2005
Charles E. Burchfield: Backyards and Beyond
August 27 - October 23, 2005
Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967) was one of America's pre-eminent watercolorists, who pushed the boundaries of the medium and used it in ways as no one had before. He was a visionary artist who was obsessed with the weather and found the changing face of nature an endless panorama of beauty and drama. Burchfield loved nature in all forms but most particularly in its wildest moods. A blizzard, a windy day, a thunderstorm all became the favorite subjects of his compositions. His expansive landscapes shimmer and dance, their nervous brushwork imbuing the natural world with a pulsating life that can be ecstatic or foreboding, or both. Burchfield helped lay the groundwork for American Modernism primarily through his intensely personal responses to nature. Today he is recognized as one of the most important and influential American artists of the twentieth century.
This exhibition was organized by The Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY.
American Drawing Biennial 8 & American Drawing Biennial: Selections from the Past
June 11 - August 14, 2005
The American Drawing Biennial 8 is a nationwide competitive juried exhibition. The juror this year is Phyllis Rosenzweig, curator of works on paper at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, a Smithsonian institution. Ms. Rosenzweig earned her graduate degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and has been affiliated with the Hirshhorn Museum since 1971 where she has organized exhibitions of the work of Gabriel Orozco, Kiki Smith, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Eakins, and Sol LeWitt among others.
The exhibition features a number of cash awards as well as a Museum purchase award. The awards ceremony and members’ preview was held Friday, June 10. Juror's choices included works by Kathleen Westkaemper, Gail Biederman and Kristen Gorell. Museum puchase award went to Luis Surrano whose work is shown above.
The exhibition in the Spigel gallery focuses on the years the American Drawing Biennial has been organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The concept of a drawing competition began in 1940 when John Hatch, director of the Albany Institute of History and Art in New York, first organized the exhibition. Sponsorship of the exhibition moved to theNorfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (now the Chrysler Museum) when John Hatch became its director in 1950. The competition evolved into a biennial event during the next twenty years but was eventually dropped in 1971. The Portsmouth Community Arts Center assumed responsibility for the organization of the exhibition from 1976 until 1982. Finally, in 1988 the competition came to Williamsburg when the Muscarelle Museum of Art organized its first American Drawing Biennial.
Since then, the exhibition has grown in importance and reputation. A different juror is selected for each competition and, therefore, each exhibition is a unique reflection of the aesthetic sensibilities of the artists who submit their works and the juror who selects the entries. Selections from the Past is a brief history capsule of the past seven Biennials.
Animals in African Art from the Collection of Wallace Gusler
April 2 - May 29, 2005
Animals in African Art focused on works that have stylistic elements derived from animals. The largest group of objects are masks which were used to represent spirits. One example is a Bagta mask from Guinea which is massive—almost five feet long—and has human, crocodile, antelope, heron, snake, and chameleon features. In addition to masks, the exhibition also included sculpture such as trumpets made from elephant tusks and a number of weapons. Many of the weapons incorporated ivory and were made for ceremonial or prestige purposes rather than for actual battle use. Ivory objects from Africa are almost always from royal families since ivory was controlled by the kings and was far too expensive for commoners. Objects in this exhibition spanned the continent of Africa from Guinea on the west coast across to Ethiopia and South to Zimbabwe on the east and Angola on the west. In all, fifteen countries are represented.
Selections from Miles L. Chappell
April 2 - May 29, 2005
The modern collection, one of the strengths of the Museum, includes fine works by twentieth-century artists from France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, and the United States . When kindly invited to make a selection by the Director Ann Madonia, particular paintings, drawings, and sculpture came immediately to mind because of their quality. This mini-exhibition has no other object than the pleasure of art. If there must be a theme, it is “loud and clear.” Works by Matisse, Beckmann, Grohs, Weber, Afro, Riopelle, Lonas and the so-called Provincetown artists led by Avery speak boldly through personal approaches to representation, abstraction or expressionism. There is much variety in the uses of bold color, expressive materiality, line that is forceful, line that is subtle, structure that is closed or open, and motifs that suggesting content and context, yet direct expression is the common denominator. As a professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the College of William and Mary, I can say that the artworks exhibited here are a pleasure to teach with and a source of great enjoyment. Great thanks are due to our donors who made the collection the rich resource that it is today.
9th W&M Faculty Show
Faculty Choice
January 22 - March 20, 2005
Live with History: Photographs from the Archives of the New York Times
November 6, 2004 - January 9, 2005
The New York Times has been publishing photographs over the past 100 years. With more than seven million images the Times has one of the oldest and most comprehensive photographic libraries in the world. This exhibition features over 100 photographs drawn from the collection of New York Times photographs at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and from the archives of the New York Times. Images included landmark buildings in New York City (the World Trade Center, Grand Central Terminal); baseball scenes (Joe DiMaggio at bat, Mickey Mantle at Yankee Stadium); and views of historic events (Hindenburg exploding at Lakehurst, Wright brothers first flight). The exhibition constituted a journey through the history of the twentieth century via photographs.
Ginsberg & Beat Fellows
November 6, 2004 - January 9, 2005
This exhibition featured photographs by Gordon Ball of the poet Allen Ginsberg with members of the Beat Generation. Ginsberg’s friends included William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, and Philip Whalen. At first these writers were simply close friends. Later they became known as a counterculture movement. The term “Beat Generation” was invented by Jack Kerouac and gradually came to represent an entire period in time.
The images in this exhibition documented Ginsberg and his friends over a period of twenty-eight years |
