July 25,
2005
Staff’s artwork featured in new exhibit
Fat Play by Nancy Foster |
he Gallery at the Art and Music Library has an “infection,” and medical attention is not required. Staff Infection, a new juried exhibition that opens July 25 and continues through September 2, features the creative endeavors of River Campus Library staff members, some professional artists and others making their debut.
Leah Hamilton, a laboratory technician in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections' conservation lab, belongs to the latter group. Her piece, Ode to Magritte, is a three-dimensional and painstakingly exact replica of a Granny Smith apple made of clay, copper wire, and acrylic. Apprehensive about entering the piece, Hamilton says she was surprised and delighted it was selected.
“This is the first time I've ever shown my work, although I've been doing art since I was old enough to hold a pencil,” says Hamilton. “The apple was a tribute to my husband and our first date to a Magritte exhibit in Montreal. At the time, he was living on a small salary and subsisting on a diet that consisted mostly of Granny Smith apples.
“I was very surprised when I learned the piece was selected. There's always that sense of 'Am I worthy of this?' But I'm so happy, and think this is a wonderful opportunity for me and others working here. You see your coworkers every day without realizing that they may be artists, too. That you share this intrinsic gift. I'm hoping the exhibit will bring us all closer and open doors for new friendships.”
Stephanie Frontz, director of the Art/Music Library and the Multimedia Center in Rush Rhees Library, agrees that this is a unique opportunity for the artists to share their work with colleagues and with the entire University community.
Wedding Portrait by Tom Clifford |
“There are lots of people on the staff who do art, ranging from traditional forms such as printmaking and drawing as well as those who work in craft arts like crocheting and knitting,” says Frontz. “I guess you could say they are 'infected' with the need to do art. It's clear from the works represented in the show that art is an important aspect in the lives of many who work in the library. It's clear that they spend significant time outside their job developing their art forms.”
Frontz says the idea of spotlighting works by staff members was actually a revival of sorts. The gallery hosted a similar show about seven years ago. “I kept getting e-mails asking when the gallery was going to do a show like that again,” she explains.
Frontz decided to sequel the show but this time making it a juried exhibition that was judged by Heather Layton and Marni Schedlman, both studio professors in the Department of Art and Art History. She sent a call for submission via e-mail to all library staff as well as those who work closely with library departments.
The pieces selected are crafted in various media. There are oil paintings, pen and ink sketches, photographic prints, needlecrafts, and three-dimensional works. The interactive piece Fat Play by Nancy Foster, the lead anthropologist in the Digital Initiatives Unit who conducts work-practice studies and other research on how students and faculty members do their scholarly work, explores people's reactions to the concept of fat.
“I was inspired one day taking a pound of butter from the freezer,” says Foster, who likes to incorporate language and found objects into her artwork, some of which will be featured in an individual exhibition later this fall at the gallery. “I thought about the relationship between a pound of butter and a pound of fat and began collecting responses from people about their reaction to the idea of fat. I said, 'Talk to me about fat.' One person wrote: 'Fat is a layer of insulation between myself and my joy.' Another said: 'Fat is the enemy. I was always taught that you should keep your friends close, and your enemies closer; and that is just where my enemy fat is . . . glued to my hips. Can't get much closer than that!'”
Foster created boxes based on a template from a butter package, and decorated the boxes with paintings and with the responses she collected.
“When people come to the show, they can pick up the boxes and turn them over to read the quotes and look at the paintings,” she adds. “The piece was interactive in the making and will be interactive in the showing. I love to work in that intersection between art and anthropology. And I can't wait to see what my coworkers have created. I hope the show will be a chance for us to get to know each other better.”
The gallery, located on the ground floor of Rush Rhees Library, is hosting an opening reception on August 2 from 4 to 7 p.m. For gallery hours or more details about the show, call x5-4476 or visit www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=200.
Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Public Relations.
