Visiting Artists, Public Talks, Gallery Openings!

It's an exciting week in the Art Department with lots going on.

The Art Department and University Art Gallery are hosting two visiting artists this week, Prof. Peter Fine  and Prof. Carmen Gimenez Smith, both from New Mexico State University.  Prof. Fine is a designer and maker of collage who emphasizes green design and design history in his work.  His collaborator, Prof. Gimenez Smith, is a poet who also won an American Book Award for her memoir "Bring Down the Little Birds".

They will be installing some collages with lyric essays in the Side Gallery, will each visit some classes, and then there will be some key events on Thursday, January 24:

  • 12:00 Noon:  informal brown-bag lunch & talk in the University Art Gallery (OP 1114)
  • 5:00 p.m.:  a reading and further discussion of art, University Art Gallery (OP 1114)
  • 6:00 p.m.  exhibition opening, University Art Gallery (OP 1114)

Also opening that day in the main gallery is an exhibition of work by three Art Department faculty members:  Prof. Jamie Bates (Ceramics), Prof. Aaron Fine (Gallery Director, Painting, Foundations), and Prof. Priya Kambli (Photography).  Stay tuned for more information about Prof. Bates' talk about the exhibition (Tuesday, February 19 at 6:00 p.m.)

As always, all of these events are free and open to the public.  Hope to see you there!

 

Congratulations Prof. Derezinski

Congratulations to Prof. Matt Derezinski (Visual Communications) who has been selected by the Chelsea River Gallery for inclusion in their current exhibition "10 under 40".  Here's what the Chelsea River Gallery had to say about the exhibition:

"In keeping with our mission to identify and promote emerging talent as well as exhibit mid-career and established artists, the gallery sent out a regional call for entries to artists under 40 years of age.  10 artists were selected as finalists to be hudged by an advisory committee made up of academics, collectors and art lovers."

More information can be found here: http://www.chelsearivergallery.com and http://10under40.wordpress.com/ and http://10under40.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/matthew-dereinzski/.

Congratulations, Matt!

Prof. Derezinski & Design in Japan!

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Photo Credit:  Matt Derezinski

Last May, Prof. Matt Derezinski (Visual Communication) attended the International Art Design Festa, Vol. 36, the biggest design festival in Asia, held this year in Tokyo, Japan.  10,000 international artists participate and thousands of visitors attend.  The festival includes live painting, painting, illustration, fashion, film, mixed media, animation, and other exciting contemporary art media.

If you'd like to learn more about Prof. Derezinski's experiences, please attend his presentation tonight, Monday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Beta Lab (OP 1210).  The event is hosted by Truman's student chapter of AIGA and is a great chance to learn about this wonderful event.

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Prof. Bates exhibition!

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Congratulations to Prof. Jamie Bates (Ceramics)!  Her work is featured in a two-artist exhibition entitled "Traces:  Synchronistic Memory" at the Gallery in the Sams Hall of Fine Arts at Kansas State University.  She gave an artists' talk last week and the show will be up until Friday, December 13th.  Photographs of one of the works in the show appear above and below.

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“Discussing the China Trade” panel discussion!

Please join us Tuesday, November 13 at 6:00 p.m. in OP 2210 for a panel discussion "Discussing the China Trade".  This event will involve three short talks by three experts involved in the exhibition The China Trade, currently on display in the University Art Gallery.  The presenters and topics are as follows:

Elizabeth Porter (Managing Director, Nanking Porcelain Company):  “The Modern China Trade: A Personal Perspective"

April Johnston (junior Art History and English double major at Truman State University):  “Ming and Qing Dynasty Porcelain in the St. Louis Art Museum”

Wynne Wilbur (Associate Professor of Art, Truman State University):  “Jingdezhen

As always, this event is free and open to the public.  Hope to see you there!

The China Trade

Selection of underglaze blue and white
Photo Credits:  Sara Orel
In the side gallery from October 16th to November 16th is the exhibition “The China Trade: Qing Dynasty export porcelain from Missouri Collections.”  This show, curated by Dr. Sara Orel (Art History) includes objects from the 1640s through the late Qing Dynasty, about 1900. Several pieces are traditional underglaze blue and white from the kilns at Jingdezhen, in southern China, and others are enameled porcelain (of famille verte and famille rose, or green family and pink family, respectively).  Several items come from shipwrecks in Southeast Asian seas, representing trade with England , the Netherlands, and Batavia, now known as Jakarta, in Indonesia.  Highlights of the exhibit include a large famille rose charger painted with carp and water plants and several pieces painted with European-commissioned imagery.  Several local people have loaned objects to the exhibit, as has Elizabeth Porter, who sells porcelain at her antique store in London, United Kingdom.

Show installation in progress

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China in Kirksville! (and Gallery receptions!)

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Careful readers of the Art Department blog will know that this Fall is a great time to explore China right here in Kirksville!  Last month, the University Art Gallery featured a retrospective exhibition of Lampo Leong's artwork, and our own Prof. Wynne Wilbur spent the month in Jingdezhen studying porcelain.

This week, two exciting new exhibitions open that feature in whole or in part work from China.

The first of those exhibitions, entitled "Cross Connections 2012" has been curated, in part, by our own Prof. Ping Xu (Visual Communications).  The exhibition is an international exchange event that presents a significant overview of international graphic design trends, featuring work by faculty and student, from eight institutions that are making their mark in graphic design within their respective countries. 

The eight universities are: The University of Texas-Arlington; The University of Texas-Pan American; Truman State University; China Central Academy of Fine Arts; China Luxun Academy of Fine Arts; Shanghai University; Sint-Lucas Ghent Belgium; National School of Fine Arts Mexico.

The exhibition will be held at UTA's Dallas-Fort Worth campus, UTPA's Edinburg campus, Truman State's Kirksville campus, CAFA's Beijing campus, LAFA's Dalian campus, Shanghai University's main campus, Sint-Lucas's Ghent campus, and ENAP's Mexico City campus.

In addition, "The China Trade", curated by Dr. Sara Orel (Art History) will open in the Spotlight Gallery–stay tuned for more information on that exciting show.

The Opening Reception for both exhibitions will be Tuesday, October 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the Gallery (OP 1114);  as always, this Gallery opening is free and open to the public.  Hope to see you there!

Prof. Wilbur on Sabbatical Leave

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Prof. Wynne Wilbur (Ceramics) is on sabbatical leave for the 2012-2013 school year. She just completed an artist's residency in Jingdezhen, China during the month of September, where she worked with the porcelain materials that are historically associated with this community in China.  After her return, she will be a featured artist at the Kansas Artist-Craftsman Association yearly meeting, and will be showing her work at the Quincy Arts Center in the spring.  She also shared with us these great pictures of her in China!

Careful readers of the blog will know that this semester is a great time to explore China with the Art Department.  The Gallery is just finishing a month-long retrospective of Lampo Leong's work;  furthermore, on Tuesday, October 16 two exhibitions featuring work from China will both open in the Gallery ("Connections: Design and Illustration From Art Schools Around the World", and "The China Trade").  Stay tuned here and to the Gallery blog for more information about those great shows!
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Reception and gallery talk by Prof. Wiskirchen!

We hope to see everyone on Tuesday, October 2, 6:00 p.m. in the University Art Gallery (OP 1114) for a gallery talk by and reception for Prof. Kelsey Wiskirchen.  The events will be held in connection with the exhibition Handed On:  New Works by Kelsey Viola Wiskirchen in the Side Gallery.  That exhibition, as well as the Lampo Leong retrospective, will close this Friday, October 5, so if you haven't been by the Gallery, do stop in before Saturday!

Stay tuned to this blog and to the University Art Gallery blog for information about what will be coming up next in the Gallery!

Prof. Derezinski show!

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Congratulations to Prof. Matt Derezinski (Visual Communication) who will have a solo show at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois.  The exhibition will be called "thoughts of perception" and will include the two works pictured here ("Hidden Garden" above, and "Choices 2" below).  Congratulations!

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