Exhibit blends artists’ devotion to social issues

What began as a classroom project to engage students in art has evolved into plans for a full-fledged exhibit of two illustrious artists with ties to Ohio University. The project, featuring the works of Maya Lin and Jenny Holzer, is slated to open at the Kennedy Museum of Art in 2004, Ohio University’s 200th anniversary.

“As a teacher, you look for ways of involving your students in a subject,” says Rachel Hostetter Smith, a former Ohio University comparative arts professor who is serving as guest curator of the exhibit. “I discovered that Maya and Jenny both had connections to Ohio University, and that got me thinking about them in relation to one another.”

Lin, whose parents were Ohio University faculty members, is best known for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., when she was 21. Her other notable works include the Civil Rights Monument in Montgomery, Ala., and the Monument to the History of Women at Yale University.

Holzer grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, and received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Ohio University in 1972. Her works — unique for the “truisms,” or philosophical statements, she incorporates into her digital and architectural art — have illuminated venues as diverse as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, New York City’s Times Square and Ohio University’s Gordy Hall.

The exhibit’s title, “Maya Lin and Jenny Holzer: Out of Athens and in Public,” reflects the artists’ strong ties to Athens and their focus on public art, says Smith, who serves as the Gilkison Chair in Art History at Taylor University.

“Both artists credit their Ohio roots for engendering important elements of their art — a sensitivity to landscape on the part of Lin, and for Holzer, an appreciation for the no-nonsense bluntness and goodwill of the Midwesterners she grew up with,” she says.

The exhibit, which will be presented at venues across the nation after its Ohio University opening, will feature a variety of media, including video, LCD displays, interactive computer programs, blueprints and an on-site piece created by each artist. Their more public works, such as monuments and memorials, will be highlighted along with pieces that reflect the similarity of their creative themes — particularly a desire to heighten social awareness and heal wounds.

In addition to participating in the exhibit, Lin has been commissioned by Ohio University to do an outdoor sculpture near Grover Center, which is undergoing renovations to house the College of Health and Human Services. The sculpture is to be completed in time for the University’s bicentennial.

— Nanette Kalis