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KENNEDY
MUSEUM HOSTS INSTALLATION EXHIBIT, PRINTMAKER'S WORK
Contact:
Clair Carpenter at the Kennedy Museum of Art, phone (740)
593-1304 or e-mail kenmus@www.ohiou.edu
ATHENS,
Ohio -- Ohio University's Kennedy
Museum of Art
is presenting its first installation exhibit -- a multimedia
piece incorporating sculpture, sound, light and video.
Joining
forces to create "The Unfound Door," which will be displayed
at the museum from Aug. 31 through Oct. 31, were composer
Charles Bestor, sculptor Barbara Cornett, and theatrical and
lighting designer John Wade. An unrelated exhibit of prints,
titled "Will Barnet: An American Master Print
Retrospective," will be displayed during the same period.
The prose
poem that opens Thomas Wolfe's first novel, "Look Homeward,
Angel," provides the theme for "The Unfound Door." Words of
the poem are included in the exhibit: "... a stone, a leaf,
an unfound door; of a stone, a leaf, a door. And of all the
forgotten faces."
The
installation is designed to draw visitors in and allow them
to become a part of the artwork. Through video projections,
images of the visitors travel with them as they explore the
exhibit. Elements of the installation -- the stone, the leaf
and the door -- respond kinetically to visitors' movements
and gestures.
The Wolfe
text, translated into seven languages and digitally
manipulated, forms the essence of the electronic musical
score. The music also reacts to the presence of the visitor.
"The
Unfound Door," which debuted in Cleveland in 1997, is the
third installation for which these artists have
collaborated. The first, "Cycles," opened in 1994. The
electronic musical score of "Into the Labyrinth," first
exhibited in 1995, won the top prize at the Musica Nova96
International Competition of the Czech Republic.
Cornett is
an award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited in
Virginia, Missouri, New York and Washington, D.C. She has
taught at the Virginia Governor's School for the Gifted,
Sweet Briar College and Randolph-Macon Woman's College.
Wade is
best known for his work with projected lighting and scenic
effects. He is professor and chair of the department of
theater at Randolph-Macon Woman's College and received the
Theatre Crafts International Award for outstanding
achievement in theater design and technology.
An
award-winning composer, Bestor has served on the faculties
and administrations of Juilliard School of Music, Willamette
University and the universities of Alabama, Colorado and
Utah. He directs the electronic and computer music studios
and is a professor of music composition and theory at the
University of Massachusetts.
"We are
excited because this is the first installation piece we have
had," said Kennedy Museum Director Kent Ahrens. The exhibit
is especially intriguing because the experience changes each
time a new visitor enters.
While "The
Unfound Door" takes a contemporary approach, the museum
offers a glimpse at the work of one of the 20th century's
printmaking masters this fall. Will Barnet, whose work also
will be exhibited from Aug. 31 through Oct. 31, has been
considered one of the major figures in printmaking in the
United States since the 1930s. He has created more than 240
print editions and also has worked as a teacher and arts
administrator.
The
traveling collection of 58 prints to be exhibited at the
Kennedy Museum was organized by the Southern Alleghenies
Museum of Art in Loretto, Pa. It showcases all three methods
of printmaking: relief, intaglio and planographic.
A relief
is created when ink is applied to a raised surface, usually
wood, which is then pressed onto a sheet of paper. An
intaglio print is made from a recessed design cut in the
matrix. Ink is pressed into the matrix and transfers to the
paper when pressed. Examples of intaglio prints include
engravings and etchings. A planographic print is created
with a greasy crayon. Water is applied to the surface and
then ink, which is held by the greasy image, is applied to
the surface. A press is then used to transfer the image to
paper. Lithographs are a form of planographic prints.
"The
exhibit was designed as a chronological survey and stylistic
evolution of Barnet's work as well as a review of the
movements in modern art," said Michael Tomor, curator of the
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. "In chronological order,
his work mirrors all of the major movements in modern art."
Tomor said he created the exhibit to honor one of the most
well-respected living artists of this century. Barnet is 88
years old and remains dedicated to the field.
A gallery
talk by Tomor is set for 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Kennedy
Museum. A reception to celebrate both the Will Barnet
exhibition and "The Unfound Door" will follow.
Museum
hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday,
noon to 8 p.m. Thursday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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