Past

Walter Gropius Master Artist Exhibit: Amy Cutler

March 17 - May 13, 2012
Bridge Gallery

Amy Cutler is internationally recognized for her meticulously detailed narrative works of art – open-ended allegories that are at once whimsical, ominous and perplexing. Cutler’s gouache paintings, drawings and prints vividly depict a world populated by women, animals and hybrid-beings engaged in fantastic, dream-like activities.

Cutler was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1974. She studied at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Stadelschule, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 1994-1995; received her BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art, New York, N.Y., in 1997; and continued her studies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999. Having rapidly gained an international audience, Cutler’s work has been included in major exhibitions of contemporary art, including The Whitney Biennial in 2004 and Greater New York at PSI/MOMA in 2005. She has had solo exhibitions at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo.; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Penn. Her paintings, drawings, and prints are included in the collections of the Hammer Museum at UCLA; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City, N.Y.; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.; the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Ind., and numerous private collections. Cutler is represented by Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, N.Y.

Portfolio 2012

April 14 - May 13, 2012

Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony begin at 2 p.m. April 14, 2012

Portfolio 2012 is a must see!  This exhibit celebrates the work of middle school and high school art students (and their teachers) in the surrounding counties of Cabell, Wayne, Putnam, Lincoln, Mingo and Jackson in West Virginia, Lawrence in Ohio, and Boyd, Greenup and Carter in Kentucky. An awards ceremony takes place the opening day of the exhibit with a reception following.

Portfolio is generously funded by the Marshall University College of Fine Arts.

 

Walter Gropius Master Artist Exhibit: Tanja Softić

March 3 - April 29, 2012
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

A Bosnian of Muslim heritage, Tanja Softić grew up in Sarajevo where she received her undergraduate diploma in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of Sarajevo in 1988. While completing graduate studies in printmaking at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va., (M.F.A. 1992), the Bosnian War erupted in her homeland half a world away, permanently altering the course of her life. Displaced and unable to return, Softić forged ahead, an émigré artist in a new environment and culture: the United States.

Softić’s works on paper explore the nature of memory, cultural identity, and national belonging experienced through the hybrid worldview of an immigrant. With a rich visual vocabulary that draws upon artistic, literary and scientific methods of inquiry, Softić creates intricately layered images full of iconography and association. Exquisitely rendered elements of landscape, microscopic life forms, architectural details and diagrams, obsolete geographical maps, astronomical charts, and anatomical fragments are combined to suggest a narrative that is deeply personal, yet easily adaptable to interpretation.

Softić is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant, National Endowment for the Arts/ Southern Arts Federation Visual Artist Fellowship and Soros Foundation – Open Society Institute Exhibition Support Grant. Her work is included in numerous collections in the U.S. and abroad, among them New York Public Library, Library of Congress Print Department and New South Wales Gallery of Art in Sydney, Australia. She participated in the 12th International Print Triennial in Krakow, Poland, and won a First Prize at the 5th Kochi International Triennial Exhibition of Prints, Ino-cho Paper Museum, Kochi, Japan, in 2002. She completed print projects at Flying Horse Press, Tamarind Institute and Anderson Ranch’s Patton Printshop. She is currently Professor of Art and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Richmond, Richmond, Va.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Exhibit: Warren MacKenzie & Randy Johnston

March 10 - April 22, 2012
Gallery 3

Warren MacKenzie Background

“Out of a kiln-load of hundreds of pots, only a few reach out strongly to the user. Out of this small number, even fewer will continue to engage the senses after daily use. These seem to tap a source beyond the personal and deal with universal experience.”  – Warren MacKenzie

Internationally recognized as a true master of 20th Century ceramics, Warren MacKenzie has influenced and inspired ceramicists, young and old, for more than 50 years. His career embodies the changing role of the ceramic artist in society, from the emergence of the individual studio potter in the 1950s to the vibrant contemporary studio pottery movement. In his Stillwater, Minnesota, studio, MacKenzie works daily to create functional, wheel thrown glazed stoneware vessels – largely unadorned – that emphasize form, surface and the physical gestures of making. Within these works, the artist’s hand is evident, intangibly linking maker to user through a respectful balance of form and function. Mackenzie’s pursuit of the “honest”, functionally elegant pot is legendary, and is rooted in the traditions of his mentors: British potter, Bernard Leach; Japanese potter, Shoji Hamada; and Japanese aesthetician, Soetsu Yanagi, all leading proponents of the Japanese mingei (“art of the people”) philosophy. Mingei celebrates simplicity, subtlety and the humble beauty that arises from an object’s utility, but the precepts transcend aesthetics to become a way of life. As an educator, MacKenzie has imparted this unique fusion of art and life to countless students including Randy Johnston, Jeff Oestreich, Mark Pharis and Sandy Simon, to name only a few. From 1953-1990, MacKenzie taught ceramics at the University of Minnesota, chaired the Department of Studio Art from 1981-1985, and placed the university ceramics department – and the whole “Mingei-sota” region – on the map as a major American hub of ceramic activity.

MacKenzie was born in 1924 in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1947. From 1949-1952, MacKenzie and his first wife, Alix Kolesky, apprenticed with Bernard Leach (1887-1979) at his renowned pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, and learned firsthand how to run a pottery studio. Through Leach, the young artists befriended Shoji Hamada (1894–1978), by then a master mingei potter, and Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961). Upon their return, they established a pottery studio in Stillwater, Minnesota, and in 1953 MacKenzie began teaching ceramics at the University of Minnesota. Throughout his impressive career, MacKenzie has exhibited both nationally and internationally and conducted countless lectures and workshops throughout the country. Amongst numerous awards, MacKenzie was named a Regent’s Professor and a fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics in 1984 and was the first to receive the Minnesota Governor’s Award in Crafts in 1986. MacKenzie retired from teaching in 1990, but continues to make pots in his studio, exhibit and sell his work and lecture in America and abroad. In 1997 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Crafts Council and a year later was honored with the Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council. His work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the National Folk Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England; the Contemporary American Crafts Museum in New York, NY; the Bernard Leach Study Collection in Bath, England; the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul, MN; the Weisman Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, both in Minneapolis, MN.

 

Randy Johnston Background

Randy Johnston has worked in ceramics in his Wisconsin studio for more than 40 years. Although firmly grounded in the functional vessel tradition, he is recognized internationally as a ceramic artist who has brought a fresh aesthetic to contemporary form. While building upon the Japanese mingei (“art of the people”) philosophies of his mentors, Johnston also experiments with new ideas and materials. His hallmark technique includes natural ash glaze firing with an emphasis on flashing, scorching, and vitrified ash deposits. The violent nature of this firing adds a level of unpredictability to the process, often imbuing the finished work with a raw, primal surface. He produces a wide variety of glazed wares as well, using his own versions of standard Japanese glazes. Johnston has made exploration an equally important part of his creative career. Fresh out of college in 1972, he built one of the earliest noborigama (climbing kilns) in the United States, and has achieved recognition for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in this country.

Johnston is currently a professor and department chair at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, where he teaches ceramics and drawing. Johnston is the recipient of numerous awards including the Bush Artist Fellowship granted by the Bush Foundation in Minnesota and two Visual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Johnston received his M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University and a B.F.A. in Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Warren MacKenzie. He also studied in Japan at the pottery of Shimaoka Tatsuzo, who was a student of Shoji Hamada, internationally recognized for bringing Japanese ceramic techniques and philosophies to the West. Johnston has presented hundreds of lectures and guest artist presentations worldwide. His work is exhibited internationally and is represented in permanent collections such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Minneapolis Art Institute, Minneapolis; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles; Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City; and numerous international, public and private collections.

Rugs to Riches: Treasured Textiles from the Permanent Collection

March 3 - April 1, 2012
Switzer Gallery

In the almost 60 years of the Museum’s existence, a wide range of beautiful textiles have been given to the Museum by generous donors forming a substantial “collection within a collection.”

Some of these works have become well known to our visitors over the years, including the Near Eastern Prayer rugs on view in the Touma Gallery, George Washington’s Cherry Tree quilt, and the large French Tapestry which depicts the goddess Diana returning from the hunt. However, these are just a few of the riches within the collection. Because of the fragile nature of textiles (they are highly susceptible to the fading effects of overexposure to light), many of these works rarely go on display.

From Rugs to Riches: Treasured Textiles from the Permanent Collection displays a wide variety of textiles from all over the world including French tapestries; Near Eastern Prayer Rugs; American quilts, coverlets and hooked rugs; Chinese and Japanese robes; Native American beaded items; Pre-Columbian Peruvian weavings and bags; paisley shawls and tie-dyed fabric from India; and French and American bags from the 1920s.

This exhibit is sponsored by The Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia Division of Culture and History; the West Virginia Commission on the Arts; and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibitions Endowment.

 

From Rugs to Riches: Treasured Textiles from the Permanent Collection

October 29 - February 19, 2012
Switzer Gallery

Opening reception coincides with Holiday Open House from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, December 4, 2011, with demonstrations of spinning, weaving, knitting, and quilt piecing, in addition to music and dance performances, a visit from Santa Claus, refreshments, and much more.

In the almost sixty years of the Museum’s existence, a wide range of beautiful textiles have been given to the Museum by generous donors forming a substantial “collection within a collection.”

Some of these works have become well known to our visitors over the years, including the Near Eastern Prayer rugs on view in the Touma Gallery, George Washington’s Cherry Tree quilt, and the large French Tapestry which depicts the goddess Diana returning from the hunt. However, these are just a few of the riches within the collection. Because of the fragile nature of textiles (they are highly susceptible to the fading effects of overexposure to light), many of these works rarely go on display.

From Rugs to Riches: Treasured Textiles from the Permanent Collection will display a wide variety of textiles from all over the world including French tapestries; Near Eastern Prayer Rugs; American quilts, coverlets and hooked rugs; Chinese robes; a Japanese kimono; Native American beaded items; Pre-Columbian Peruvian weavings and bags; paisley shawls and tie-dyed fabric from India and the Near East; and French and American beaded bags from the 1920s.

The Museum was fortunate to have Jennifer Pisula as an intern during the summer. Jennifer is a graduate student at Rhode Island University studying Historic Textiles and Costume and was able to work with curatorial staff on the selection, display and conservation of many of the Museum’s textiles. We thank Jennifer for all of her assistance.

This exhibit is sponsored by The Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia Division of Culture and History; the West Virginia Commission on the Arts; and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibitions Endowment.

Fifty Years of Contemporary Prints 1960-2010

December 10 - February 19, 2012
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

Since 1960, each subsequent decade has brought technological advances and experimentation to the world of printmaking. Since the 1960s and 1970s, artists have had access to large printmaking centers and workshops employing master printers, large scale presses and papers, and the capability of combining non-traditional processes and materials. With that said, however, many artists still work alone, and execute and pull prints in their private studios.

Artists have broadened their range of media, with painters and sculptors delving into the world of printmaking. Thus, today, already into the second decade of the 21st century, the possibilities of printmaking seem endless.

This exhibition will explore prints from the past five decades and will present outstanding examples of work by well-known artists, including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Keith Haring, Chuck Close, Jennifer Bartlett, John Baldessari, Yvonne Jacquette, and Willie Cole, among others.

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Lenny Lyons Bruno: Coal Camp Series 2000-2010

November 19 - February 19, 2012
Gallery Three

Meet the artist at HMA’s Holiday Open House on December 4, 2011, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Lenny Lyons Bruno was born in a West Virginia coal camp in 1947. The Coal Camp Series is a visual narrative of those early years. A self-taught artist, Lenny shares her memories in large paintings that incorporate a wide range of materials including quilts, photographs, ledgers and found objects often dating back to that era. Her sculpture follows the same theme, everyday objects reconfigured into iconoclastic forms that create a sense of nostalgia and wonder. While layered and complex, her paintings and sculpture have enormous emotional impact for the viewer, one that encourages a personal journey of discovery.

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

 

Macy’s Presents Haiti to Huntington: A Journey of Color

November 12 - February 12, 2012
Daywood Gallery

Winslow Anderson first visited Haiti in 1951, and would return to the Island at least once a year for the next 40 years. Anderson was a ceramist and a painter, and from 1947-1953 he was the first designer at Blenko Glass Company, Milton, West Virginia, hired to design modern utilitarian vessels for factory production. Anderson had been trained as a potter at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred (now Alfred University) and studied form, composition and color with the renowned abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann, whose principles were largely non-objective and cerebral. Anderson felt that Hofmann’s teachings “appeal to a painter in the same way a Bach fugue appeals to a musician.”

We know from comments he wrote about his collection that when he first viewed Haitian paintings he “saw for the first time, fun and joy in paintings just as the musician would have fun in playing The Blue Danube or the Beer Barrel Polka as compared to a complicated fugue … During these years, I purchased many (Haitian) paintings – all chosen with my heart and not my head. Each one inspired me to ‘get to the easel’ and start to paint.”

In thinking of these formative years in Anderson’s career (he was 30 years old when he began working for Blenko) one can’t help wonder if the Haitian paintings not only inspired his own easel paintings, but also influenced his color choices at Blenko. This exhibit will explore that idea of the bright, bold colors of Haiti finding credence with glass designed and produced in West Virginia.

This exhibit is presented by Macy’s, with additional generous support from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.                    

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Mary Buchanan

October 15 - December 11, 2011
Bridge Gallery

Exhibition: Vanishing Stories October 15 – December 11, 2011

Public Lecture: November 3, 2011, at 7 p.m.

Workshop: Creating Narrative in the Contemporary Quilt takes place November 4 – 5, 2011

            Although formally trained as a printmaker, Mary Buchanan began to explore quilt-making in 1996, intrigued by the process, history and tradition of the medium. She was subsequently awarded a 3 ½-year, grant-funded residency as part of the Dominion Therapy Program at Westminster Canterbury, Richmond, Va., designed to bring studio art experiences to seniors with memory impairments. The lasting impressions of this tenure continue to inform the content of her work.

            Buchanan’s embroidered and quilted textiles function as visual metaphors for the disordered relationships of person, place, and time that accompany Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. She uses both formal and conceptual elements to investigate these degenerative processes by layering, tearing, stitching, dyeing, cutting and repeating imagery, text, and pattern. Fragmented images of empty buildings, sitting rooms and antiquated objects drift into and out of focus. Within these complex compositions, foreground and background become interchangeable, simultaneously obscuring and revealing information to the viewer, evoking the shifting periods of clarity and disorientation associated with memory loss.

Buchanan received her B.F.A., cum laude, in 1993 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She has exhibited her work in numerous juried and solo exhibitions, most recently at the Zig Zag Gallery, The Plains, Va., and has taught many textile workshops and classes. Buchanan currently resides and works in Richmond, Va., where she is earning a graduate degree in interdisciplinary studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Master Prints from The Daywood Collection

August 6 - November 27, 2011
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

The prints in this exhibition are selected from the remarkable Daywood Collection, assembled from the 1920s through the early 1960s by Arthur S. and Ruth Woods Dayton, lifelong residents of West Virginia. 

The Daywood Collection, rich in paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and glass, was donated to the Huntington Museum of Art in 1967. The print collection contains works by renowned printmakers working mostly in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, both in the United States and Europe. Often the Daytons collected many prints by the same artist. The collection is rich in works by the American artists Kerr Eby, John Taylor Arms, Childe Hassam, Frank Benson, Levon West, Joseph Pennell and Stow Wengenroth, as well as the British artists Sir Francis Seymour Hayden, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Sir David Young Cameron, and James McBey. A few examples by important old master artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, and Jacques Callot are also part of the collection.

The exhibition includes a variety of printmaking techniques, including etching, drypoint, aquatint, and lithography. 

 This exhibit is generously sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History,  West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Mary H. & J. Churchill Hodges Present On Inland Waters: Steamboats and the Ohio River 1811-2011

September 10 - November 6, 2011
Gallery 3

Opening reception begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011, with a 30-minute performance by Musical Arts Guild featuring a medley from “Showboat” and other boat-related songs. A gallery walk with exhibit co-curator Gerald W. "Jerry" Sutphin and a reception follow. Admission to the opening reception is free.

This year – 2011 – marks the 200^th anniversary of the first steamboat to successfully navigate the Ohio River and eventually travel down the Mississippi (then referred to as western waters) to New Orleans.

This first steamboat, named “New Orleans” was owned by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston and constructed by Nicholas Roosevelt, whose family joined him as the first steamboat passengers on inland rivers. This important journey changed the course of American history, for it was not only a daring adventure, but it opened up the continent for further exploration, and led to thousands of steamboats being built and operating on the rivers in America.

Photographs and steamboat ephemera portraying the different types of steamboats which plied the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati for the past two hundred years, selected from the extensive collection of river/steamboat historian and co-curator of the exhibit Gerald W. "Jerry" Sutphin, will be the focus. Paintings, drawings and decorative arts either depicting steamboats, or associated with use on steamboats, from the collection of the Huntington Museum of Art, and other public and private collections will also be on view. The River Institute at Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana, is spearheading this year of celebrations.

Mary H. and J. Churchill Hodges Present On Inland Waters: Steamboats on the Ohio River 1811-2011, which received generous additional support from the West Virginia Humanities Council; West Virginia Division of Culture and History; West Virginia Commission on the Arts; the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment; North Gate Business Park; Huntington District Waterways Association; Neal F. Harper; In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Boylin; In Memory of Thomas C. Bullington; In Memory of Frank Eugene Duba, Ph.D. 1967-2010; In Memory of Howard and Arthinia Ellis; In Memory of John E. Jenkins, Jr.; In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Glick; In Memory of Miriam Greenstein; In Memory of Edward H. Lafferre; In Memory of Sallie Mossman Manassah; In Memory of Mary M. Maphet; In Memory  of Wilhelmina Moore: Struggles Going Upstream; In Memory of Byron and Ruth Walling; and In Memory of Mrs. Harry (Betty) Wolfe, Jr.

 

Native American Weavings and Jewelry from the Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

July 2 - October 30, 2011
Daywood Gallery

Opening reception takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. July 17, 2011, with D.Y. Begay, whose work is featured in the exhibit, giving The Dr. Lawrence B. & Shirley Gang Memorial Lecture.

Thanks to the generosity of Ohio University alumnus and museum namesake Edwin L. Kennedy, Ohio University possesses a unique and culturally significant collection of southwest Native American art.

This collection, known as the Edwin L. and Ruth E. Kennedy Southwest Native American Collection, includes nearly 700 textiles and more than 2,400 jewelry items of predominantly Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni origin. HMA’s Senior Curator Jenine Culligan will work with the Kennedy Museum’s Curator Petra Kralickova and other staff to select 40 weavings and approximately 45 jewelry pieces to bring to Huntington for display. The collection includes both historic and contemporary weaving and jewelry pieces.

Navajo weaving has a rich history encompassing more than 500 years. The Kennedy collection spans the three major periods of Navajo weaving from Classic and Late Classic wearing blankets, 1650-1865, through the Transitional period, 1865-1895, with some stunning Germantown pieces, to the Contemporary, 1895-1990. One of the most unique features of the Kennedy Museum’s collection is the largest single collection of Navajo sand painting textiles in existence. The collection includes the sand painting designs used in six traditional ceremonial healing practices:  the Beautyway, Waterway, Bead Chant, Great Star Chant, Hailway, and Coyoteway.

Collection sharing allows museums with rich and expansive collections in one field, to bring artworks out of the vault for travel to wider audience. Exchanges have been planned between HMA and the University of Kentucky Art Museum, The Kennedy Museum, and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University.

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History,  West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Val Cushing

August 27 - October 23, 2011
Virginia Van Zandt Great Hall

Exhibition: August 27 – October 23, 2011

Public Lecture: September 8, 2011, at 7 p.m.

Workshop: A Sixty Year Path in the Clay World takes place September 9-11, 2011

One of the nation’s foremost contemporary ceramic artists, Val Cushing creates functional pottery as well as sculptural ceramic vessels using forms, colors and textures inspired by nature. Unlike many of his peers in the ceramics community, Cushing has not rejected function in favor of purely sculptural concerns, deliberately choosing instead to work within the limitations imposed by such conventional formats as bowls, pitchers, and storage jars. Heavily influential as an artist and educator, Cushing’s techniques and philosophies continue to inform and shape the contemporary ceramics movement. Many of the matte and satin glazes used today are based on his original formulas.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., in 1931, Val Cushing received a B.F.A. in 1952 and an M.F.A. in 1956 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. After 41 years of teaching pottery and technical courses concerning clays, glazes and related subjects, he retired from Alfred in 1997 and was designated “professor emeritus”. Cushing was a founding member and former president of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, as well as a Fellow of the American Craft Council.

Over the course of his impressive career, he received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Fulbright grant for teaching and research, and has given more than 250 lectures, workshops and demonstrations around the world. Cushing’s pottery has been featured in more than 300 exhibitions and numerous one-person shows, and he is represented in many prestigious public and private collections.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents Robert Kushner

August 20 - October 16, 2011
Switzer Gallery

Exhibition: August 20 – October 16, 2011

Public Lecture: September 15, 2011, at 7 p.m.

Workshop: Conjuring Beauty takes place September 16 – 18, 2011

Considered a founder of the Pattern and Decoration movement of the early 1970s, Robert Kushner is arguably the most significant decorative artist working today. His large-scale, ornate, floral paintings are harmonic interplays of abstraction and representation – complex compositions layered with masterfully depicted flowering plants and organic material. The artist uses repetition and symmetry to structure his work, employing bold geometric forms, grids and patterns to balance the spontaneity of his expressive, often calligraphic brushwork. Metallic leaf is often applied using traditional Japanese and European gilding methods.

Kushner’s paintings synthesize a wide variety of Eastern and Western source materials and techniques to form a rich, multilayered, highly finished work, reflective of Kushner’s pursuit of the “fully-resolved” art object.

As an undergraduate, Kushner studied under famed art historian and critic Amy Goldin, whose expertise in the history of decoration proved significant to Kushner. During these formative years, Kushner became intrigued by works of art and design in which pattern was key: “carpets, textiles, and Islamic decoration – works that were extremely complex and required time and attention to decode”. Acting as his “intellectual guide”, Goldin persuaded the young artist to relocate to New York City in 1972. There he discovered many other young artists embracing a similar aesthetic response to the austerity of Minimalism. At this point, Kushner was making experimental decorative collages – refreshingly handmade and spontaneous – and costumed performance art while he worked as a textile conservator and collector of Oriental carpets.

Kushner embarked on a pivotal trip to the Middle East in 1974. He visited centuries-old mosques, tombs, and gardens in Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan, and viewed firsthand “the incredible works of genius which existed in almost any Muslim city”. There Kushner experienced an artistic epiphany and his attitude changed dramatically: “I was making decoration because you weren’t supposed to,” he said. Upon seeing these ancient structures covered with ornate mosaics, Kushner said he became aware of how intelligent and uplifting decoration can be. He rejected the idea that originality was the main ingredient of good art, vowing instead to work within tradition, using forms which have been used throughout history. A subsequent trip to Japan in 1985 marked the beginning of his long-standing involvement with East-Asian source material and surfaces including antique scrolls, screens and sliding doors.

Born in Pasadena, Calif., in 1949, Kushner received a B.A. in visual arts with honors from the University of California at San Diego in 1971. He currently resides and works as a full-time studio artist in New York, N.Y. Kushner’s cross-cultural investigations have taken him around the world, exhibiting nationally and internationally at countless venues, such as the Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark; Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery, Osaka, Japan; and the Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, Mass. Kushner’s work is also represented in numerous private and public collections including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y.; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Penn.; and the Galleria degli Ufizzi, Florence, Italy. Kushner is represented by DC Moore Gallery in New York City.

Beautiful Obsolescence

May 28 - August 28, 2011

In her book titled Evocative Objects: things we think with, writer and psychologist Sherry Turkle contends that “We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with.” Everyone uses objects. They can be useful or aesthetic, utilitarian, or a vain indulgence. Objects play a large role in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes we become emotionally attached to them, but often they become so familiar that we rarely contemplate our relationship with them unless they are lost to us. In today’s consumer-driven society the majority of the objects we treasure, and with which we surround ourselves, are not made to last a lifetime.

The objects in this exhibition all come from the Museum’s permanent collection. Some were carried and used every day while some were precious, uniquely crafted, and rarely touched except on special occasions. All had an important purpose at one time, however, each has, for a variety of reasons, become unfashionable, or been replaced by a new invention. Often these objects became synonymous with a person’s identity and status: a time period, or a fashion trend. Unlike today’s “stuff” most of these objects were made by hand, became cherished items, and were passed down the family tree as heirlooms, or keepsakes of precious memories.

Highlights of the exhibition include walking sticks, match safes, tea caddies, oil and kerosene lamps, sugar chests, mourning jewelry, chocolate pots, vinaigrettes, samplers, home spun cloth, rag and hooked rugs, and glass specialty items such as salt cellars, cup plates, celery vases, and spooners. 

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History,  West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

CALDER

June 4 - August 7, 2011
Switzer Gallery

This exhibition will feature works by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) from the University of Kentucky Art Museum and the Huntington Museum of Art.

Featuring approximately 16 works, Calder will be explored through his mobiles, lithographs and large-scale “tapestry.” The University of Kentucky Art Museum is graciously lending 12 lithographs from the Our Unfinished Revolution portfolio, 1975, and a mobile titled The Star, executed in 1960. HMA will add the mobile from their collection titled Red G from 1963, a lithograph titled Pyramids, 1971, and a large-scale fiber wall hanging from 1975. Alexander Calder was known for his “larger-than-life personality” and is still one of the most beloved American artists of the 20^th century. His small and large-scale works are instantly recognizable, accessible to multiple generations, and full of bright color and lyrical shapes. He was a master artist in both two and three dimensions, known for his prints, wire work and jewelry as well as his “mobiles” and “stabiles.” The Huntington Museum of Art is pleased to collaborate once again with the University of Kentucky Art Museum.

 This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Into the Wood: Woodblock Prints from the Permanent Collection

May 14 - July 24, 2011
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

Woodcut, the oldest technique used in printmaking, belongs to the family of prints known as relief prints. To make relief prints, the artist draws on a flat block of wood, then cuts or gouges away the area around the drawing, so that the lines and forms that are to be inked and printed remain raised. Only low pressure is required to make a print (unlike intaglio and planographic printing), and this can be done in three ways: stamping, rubbing, or under a weighted press.

Woodblocks appeared in China during the 5^th century, Japan during the 8^th century, and in Europe during the 15^th century. Once the techniques of engraving and etching were discovered, processes which allowed the artist to include greater detail, woodcuts became largely passé for many years. Toward the end of the 18^th century, a metal engraver, Thomas Bewick, recognized the potential of wood engraving and brought it again to the forefront of artistic possibilities. He also developed the use of white line technique. The Japanese also developed the Ukiyo-e technique of color woodblock printing in 1765 which was a great influence on artists and printmakers all over the world, especially European and American artists working in the mid-to-late 19^th century.

This exhibition will feature approximately 70 prints from the Museum’s permanent collection, presenting a wide range of woodblock techniques and styles. Highlights include an early 17^th century woodblock print by Flemish artist Christoffel Jegher, executed after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, a series of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints by Utagawa Kunisada, woodcuts by Winslow Homer for Harper’s Weekly Magazine executed  during the Civil War,  wood engravings by Asa Cheffetz and Thomas Nason, a white line print by Blanche Lazzell, a portfolio of five wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg commissioned for a special edition of Grimmelhausen’s The Adventures of Simplicissimus, and large scale woodcuts by John Buck and Louisa Chase, among many others.

This exhibit is generously sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History,  West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Turning Wood into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection

April 9 - June 19, 2011

Michelle Holzapfel, "Quercus," 1998. Red oak burl, 15 ½” x 12” x 11”. Collection of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina. Gift of Jane and Arthur Mason, 2006.88 Courtesy of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina. Tour Management by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, Kansas City, Missouri.

This exhibit was organized by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Opening reception takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. April 10 with wood-turning and wood-carving demonstrations, and children’s activities. HMA tree identification trail tour with Dave Lavender takes place at 3 p.m. April 17.

Turned-wood objects embody a provocative combination of the natural and the manmade. The dialogue between an artist and the wood on the lathe is a balancing act between precise control and the forces of chance, a collaboration of hand, machine, mind, and matter. Indeed, the allure of a turned-wood piece resonates from the intersection of the material’s inherent beauty and the turner’s mastery of technique, concept, and form.

The field of woodturning has matured rapidly over the past two decades and has achieved an exciting level of quality, artistic expression, and technical innovation. Turning Wood Into Art showcases 65 objects from the Mint Museum of Craft + Design’s, Jane and Arthur Mason Collection, one of the world’s foremost collections of contemporary wood sculpture. 

Turning Wood into Artis divided into five thematic areas related to the medium of wood:  Material Aesthetics, Process and Image, Storytelling, Design, and Tree Life.  Works by 40 artists from around the world will be showcased, including Stephen Hogbin, Po Shun Leong, and Hans Weissflög.  The collection encompasses the work of influential artists in the field such as James Prestini, Bob Stocksdale, Rude Osolnik, Edward Moulthrop, and Mel Lindquist, as well as the next generation of turners to emerge, such as David Ellsworth and Mark Lindquist. Together, they have played a strong role in shaping the international field of woodturning.

The showing in Huntington is part of a two-and-a-half year national tour developed and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, an exhibition tour development company in Kansas City, Missouri. A beautiful, fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition, and will be available in the Museum Shop.

This exhibit is generously sponsored by Anonymous; The Herald-Dispatch; The following members of the West Virginia Forestry Association: W.M. Cramer Lumber Company, The Jim C. Hamer Company, Laurel Creek Hardwoods, Inc., & Columbia West Virginia Corp.; John and Tully Kellner; In Memory of Antonio J. TriaTirona; In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Sullivan; In Memory of Mary Etta Hight; In Memory of Marietta (Casey) Ball; In Memory of June Hopson Templeton; In Memory of J. Prichard Hicks; In Memory of Jesse Fox Perry; In Memory of Mr. James A. Tweel; In Memory of John L. Thomas, Sr.; In Memory of Charles H. Tucker; In Memory of Mary Eliner Morgan; In Memory of Lavelle T. Jones; West Virginia Division of Culture and History; West Virginia Commission on the Arts; and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

 

Classes & Workshops Exhibit

May 24 - May 29, 2011
Virginia Van Zandt Great Hall

Reception takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 24.

Evening hours and on weekends, eager artists fill the HMA studios, honing their art- making skills and enjoying the camaraderie of fellow artists. Some of the classes that take place throughout the year are pottery, watercolor, figure drawing, photography, pastels, and Photoshop. Be sure to enjoy this exhibit of work by HMA’s studio artists.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Sook Jin Jo

April 2 - May 29, 2011
Switzer Gallery

This exhibit features five works by Sook Jin Jo, including Chairs (2010); two large wall relief panels -- Untitled (2004) and Streets of India (2009); a video titled Crossroads (2008); and a site-specific installation titled Outside In.

Jo provided this description of her site-specific installtion: "Outside In will be an exploration of connecting the space between the inside Switzer Gallery and the outside courtyard space beyond the wall in between by intertwining wood scraps, branches, and industrial refuse in random shapes and positions. During the process, we will also explore the relationship between art and architecture, construction and deconstruction, nature and man-made, structural stability and mystical energy."

The Walter Gropius Master Artist Series is funded through the generosity of the Estate of Roxanna Y. Booth, who wished to assist in the development of an art education program in accordance with the proposals of Walter Gropius, who designed the Museum's Gropius Addition, as well as the Gropius Studios.

Portfolio 2011

April 16 - May 15, 2011
Gallery 3

Reception and Awards Ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011.

 Portfolio is an exciting exhibition that celebrates the work of middle school and high school art students from the Tri-State region. High school teachers submit only eight works from all of their students. Middle school teachers submit only four works. From more than 100 entries, awards are determined by a guest judge and then distributed to each winner.  This year’s judge is Marshall University professor of photography Danny Kaufmann.  Images of the 12 winning pieces are posted on HMA’s website. 

 Portfolio 2011is generously supported by Marshall University’s College of Fine Arts.

The Figure

March 5 - May 1, 2011
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

This exhibition will highlight works on paper from the permanent collection created by artists who use the human figure as the primary or secondary subject in their work.

The human figure has been portrayed and explored by artists throughout the history of art. This exhibit will span works from five centuries, beginning with depictions by 17^th century old master printmakers such as Albrecht Durer, Hendrik Goltzius and Rembrandt van Rijn up through contemporary takes on the subject by Philip Pearlstein, Mel Ramos, Robert Longo, Keith Haring, and Leslie Dill.

Included will be original drawings by Jean François Millet, Pablo Picasso, George Bellows, Peggy Bacon, Thomas Hart Benton, and Wade Schuman; watercolors by Winslow Homer, and Marie Laurencin; and prints by George Catlin, Thomas Rowlandson, Honore Daumier, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Marc Chagall, Kathe Kollwitz, Henri Matisse, John Sloan, and many others.

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

Elaine Blue: The Performance

December 18 - April 10, 2011
Poetry reading of works by Elaine Blue, read by Carolyn Thomas, actress, writer, and director, on Sunday, February 6, 2011, at 2 p.m.
Bridge Gallery

On a recent studio visit, Elaine Blue working on a new painting depicting the earthquake in Haiti. Surrounding her were stacks of paintings, a few dealing with large-scale catastrophic events that affect all of our lives and create collective memories such as 9/11 and Katrina. Others depict social concerns such as child abuse and neglect, poverty, and homelessness. Elaine Blue knows these social problems and how they affect individual lives all too well. She draws on a diverse background which includes being a director of a local housing authority, and a child-care agency, an elementary school teacher, and working with the homeless. Many of her paintings are much more lighthearted. Pain, laughter, sorrow, joy and reflection are words that easily describe the intense emotions portrayed in her work.

More than anything, Elaine Blue, Clarksburg native and Huntington resident, is an observer of life. She takes her observations, personal experiences, and private thoughts and uses them to create unique, expressive works of art. This has gone on since childhood. She uses her talents as therapy, and feels they are a gift from God. Blue states that “my goal as an artist is to connect with the viewer at a level where they can be part of the creative process.” Blue is also a well known poet, playwright, public speaker and founder and former director/producer of the Huntington Theatrical Ensemble. Her artwork has been exhibited in various states and shared in Africa.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Macy’s, Marshall University Division of Multicultural Affairs, Carolyn Bagby, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Macy’s Presents American Artists of Color

January 15 - April 10, 2011
Gallery Three
Opening Reception: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, February 6, 2011
Admission: Free

We live in an age of hyphenated Americans, where even Appalachian-Americans are considered a minority by many colleges and universities. The United States’ diverse population is known as a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl.” Either way, the fact remains that it is a society made up of people from many countries, and made rich by influences from various cultures.

This exhibition, drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, presents works by African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American artists either from or working in the United States.

The exhibition will include paintings, prints and sculpture dating from the early years of the 20th century up to the present. Artists include Henry Ossawa Tanner, Yasuo Kunioshi, and Enrique Chagoya, among others.

This exhibition is generously presented by Macy’s, with additional support from the Marshall University Division of Multicultural Affairs, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Alleghany Meadows

January 15 - March 13, 2011
Workshop: February 11- 13, 2011
Public presentation: Thursday, February 10, 2011
Virginia Van Zandt Great Hall

Alleghany Meadows is a studio potter in Carbondale, Colorado, where he maintains an active studio, co-owns Harvey/Meadows Gallery, Artstream Nomadic Gallery and Studio for Arts and Works.

He received his M.F.A. from Alfred University, apprenticed with Takashi Nakazato, Karatsu, Japan, received a Watson Foundation Fellowship for field study of potters in Nepal, and was an artist in residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center.

Alleghany has presented lectures and workshops nationally and internationally, including at Penland, Anderson Ranch, Haystack, Arrowmont, and Good Hope, Jamaica. He exhibits nationally.

The Daywood Collection

December 11 - March 6, 2011
Daywood Gallery

Between the years 1916 and 1965, Philippi, West Virginia, natives Arthur Spencer (1887-1948) and Ruth Woods Dayton (1894-1978) carefully selected a superb collection of American and European paintings, sculpture and decorative arts. They bought what they liked and what they could afford. They purchased works from art galleries, auctions, prestigious exhibitions such as the Carnegie International, and purchased works directly from the studios of artists whom they admired – both in the United States and abroad.

They were well read on the history of art, especially 19th and 20th century American artists, sharing a penchant for landscapes. The strength of their collection lies in academically trained artists working in the various schools of realism and American impressionism. They also had a penchant for small bronzes, especially by women artists working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Arthur Dayton died suddenly in 1948. After much renovation, Ruth Dayton decided to turn a ramshackle building on the property adjacent to their home in Lewisburg, West Virginia, into a museum. She called it The Daywood Gallery, combining Arthur’s surname (Dayton) and her maiden name (Woods), and enjoyed sharing their works with the public. The collection continued to grow through purchases and donations, and the museum was in operation from 1951 into 1966. The following year The Daywood Collection was donated to the Huntington Museum of Art.

Red River: The Narrative Works of Edgar Tolson, Carl McKenzie, Earnest Patton, and Donny Tolson

November 6 - February 27, 2011
Switzer Gallery

All four of the artists featured in this exhibition were born, raised, and lived their lives in an area roughly comprising the Red River watershed in Wolfe and Powell counties, Kentucky.

Larry Hackley, Guest-Curator for this exhibit, and longtime, Kentucky-based folk art dealer and collector, wrote in the accompanying catalogue essay: “Red River was assembled to illustrate the connections, influences, styles, sources, and evolutions of the four major sculptors of the Campton School.”

At least 10 carved wooden sculptures by each of the artists are showcased with the focus on multi-figural, narrative tableaus. Scenes from everyday life and stories from the Bible comprise most of the subject matter. Edgar Tolson (1904-1984) was one of the first folk artists from the region to receive national recognition in the late 1960s. A large number of his sculptures explore the theme of “The Fall of Man” and six of his Garden of Eden sculptures are on view.

Carl McKenzie (1905-1998) was aware of Tolson’s carvings, and the notoriety they received, however, works by McKenzie differ in their carving style and surface treatment. One of his favorite subjects was Noah’s Ark.

Earnest Patton (b. 1935), is a cousin of Edgar Tolson, and it was Edgar who taught him basic carving techniques. Although stylistic similarities are evident, Earnest employs a different assembly technique and pulls more of his subject matter from personal memories and family events.

Donny Tolson (b. 1958), youngest son of Edgar Tolson, has witnessed and been more directly influenced by the influx of the outside world into Eastern Kentucky. His carving style is more precise and delicate when compared to the elder Tolson, and includes both religious subject matter and people from history and contemporary popular culture.

This exhibit was organized by, and had its premiere at the Kentucky Folk Art Center in March 2010. It then traveled to the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Huntington. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition with works borrowed from both private collections and public institutions, including the Kentucky Folk Art Center, Morehead, Kentucky; Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, Kentucky; UK Healthcare, Lexington, Kentucky; and HMA.

This exhibit is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Water + Color Works from the Permanent Collection

December 4 - February 20, 2011
Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Gallery

The medium of watercolor has been used by artists in various ways since prehistoric times, and has included everything from cave paintings, illuminated manuscripts, preliminary sketches for oil paintings, and hand-colored engravings. However it wasn’t until the late 18th century that the medium of watercolor was accepted as an independent, mature, painting medium.

The late Georgian and Victorian periods witnessed an international love affair with watercolors, especially in England and France, and especially with the paintings by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851).

Watercolor painting became popular in the United States in the mid-19th century, and The American Society of Painters in Watercolor (now the American Watercolor Society) was established in 1866. Winslow Homer, who had a natural, innate talent for this difficult media, was one of America’s earliest proponents of the medium. He began using watercolor on a regular basis in 1873 during a summer in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The impact of these paintings was revolutionary, and soon watercolors were used, often exclusively, by artists throughout the 20th century. This exhibition will present watercolors from the Museum’s Permanent Collection with works by masters of the medium including Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, and Charles Burchfield, among many others.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by the Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibitions Endowment Fund; John and Patty Anderson In Honor of Margret Anderson; In Honor of Charles J. Clausen; In Honor of James A. and Patricia B. Shope; West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Curator’s Choice: Charles Jupiter Hamilton

October 16 - January 2, 2011
Gallery Three

To help further promote artists from Eastern Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and West Virginia, the Museum began a biennial series of exhibitions in 2004 called Curator’s Choice.

To date the series has presented solo exhibitions featuring the work of Robert Hutton (2004), Paula Clendenin (2006), and Darryl Halbrooks (2008). For the upcoming Curator’s Choice in 2010, the Museum has selected Charles Jupiter Hamilton (American, b. 1948) of Charleston, West Virginia. Hamilton’s relationship with the Museum goes back to the late 1980s when he began submitting work to be included in the Museum’s Exhibition 280, a juried regional art exhibit. And, for a time during the early 1990s, Hamilton was engaged by the Museum to teach its rural outreach program called Museum Making Connections.

Charles Jupiter Hamilton is best known for his energetic, highly expressive acrylic canvases, hand-built sculptures, carved and painted wall reliefs, and self-pulled wood block prints. His work meticulously fills empty space with dots, swirls, Greek-key and other design elements. A simplified analysis would describe his style as a cross between psychedelic art of the 1960s and the work of indigenous tribal art such as that of aboriginal peoples of Australia.

In fact, his worked has been referred to as “new world primitivism.” His sculptures often incorporate colorful marbles and other found materials. Each work is narrative to a degree, and often autobiographical. His art often includes interesting perspectives, including bird’s-eye views that compress a wide area of territory into a single image, whether it is a room full of people, a baseball diamond, or an entire town. This unique perspective is the first clue that one is seeing the world filtered through the eyes of a visionary artist. His website conveniently sums up his work with the following: “His art seduces the viewers, encouraging them to search past the work’s surface, beyond the intricacy of the design, to reveal images within images: animated figures, crooked visions of the world, snakes, fish and his trademark, dogs and demons; it’s a teeming spectacle. It’s the “Big Idea” that goes straight to the nervous system.”

Some of Hamilton’s many influences include: growing up on a small dairy farm with a Hungarian mother, brother and strong-headed sisters; his travels and service as a Gunner’s Mate Petty Officer with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War; studying art history and painting at UNC-Chapel Hill; painting and traveling in Mexico, Central America, India and the United States; and his thirty plus years at home among the “wildlife” of West Virginia.

His art has been exhibited and collected across the United States, including Charleston, Boston, New York, Tampa, Miami, San Diego, Raleigh, Los Angeles, Savannah, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago. It adorns offices, museums and homes around the world, and has been used for album covers and books of poetry.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Anonymous; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Baer, II; Ellen Cappellanti; Dolores (Dee) Cook In Memory of Willis W. Cook; Ann and Roger Day; Rebecca Frischkorn; David A. Glick In Memory of Jack & Miriam Glick; In Honor of Mr. & Mrs. Douglas R. Hardman; Lexa and Lawrence Lewis In Honor of Jacob Lewis, Director of Pace Prints Art Gallery in Chelsea, N.Y.; Callen McJunkin Gallery; Harvey Peyton; Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs In Memory of Mr. & Mrs. Harry C. Mandt; John & Pat Strickland In Honor of Pat Strickland; Jennifer Wheeler In Honor of Ann Finley Wheeler; West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Catherine LeCleire

October 2 - December 5, 2010
Workshop: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. October 9-10, 2010
Public Presentation: Friday, October 8, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Bridge Gallery

Catherine LeCleire creates artist books that combine her passion for both printmaking and bookbinding. She uses the book as both an art form and a receptacle of ideas. The artist book differs from a traditional book because there is absolute freedom in the selection of materials, sizes and shapes. LeCleire considers some of her content as narrative paper quilts that document the experience and fold into a formal book format or box structure.

Her Middle Eastern heritage is intertwined throughout her work. Fragments of letters, maps, family photos, genealogy, as well as found objects are part of her visual vocabulary. The elements of size, scale, reflection, and surprise are intrinsic to her structures. “Women of War” is depicted in both a large and small format and reflects the neglect of women in all wars. The series “Memory” is a tribute to her mother’s 15-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease which destroyed her body and mind. A number of her works look at the human body and investigate the idea of a box as a vessel or container for organs. All of LeCleire’s books invite the viewer to participate, communicate and experience the work.

LeCleire received her B.F.A. in printmaking, and her M.A.E. in art education with a concentration in printmaking from Philadelphia College of Art (University of the Arts), Philadelphia, Penn. She went on to receive her M.F.A. in fine arts from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, with a concentration in printmaking. She currently teaches printmaking and book art techniques at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Montclair State University, Montclair, N.J. She has shown nationally and internationally and her work is in several major collections, such as the Baku Museum of Art, Azerbaijan; Hunterdon Museum of Art, New Jersey; Lafayette College, Pennsylvania; and William Paterson University, New Jersey. She has also bound books for David Salle, Joan Mitchell, Octavio Paz, Richard Tuttle, James Brown and others. In 2008, LeCleire was the first artist to be awarded a residency through the Adolph Konrad Endowment from the Printmaking Center of New Jersey.

The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States

August 28 - November 28, 2010
Daywood Gallery

The documentary film about the Vogels titled Herb and Dorothy will be shown on October 24, 2010, at 2 p.m. in HMA’s Grace Rardin Doherty Auditorium.

In 2008, the Huntington Museum of Art was selected to receive a gift of 50 works of art from New York collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, with the help of the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The gifts are part of a national gifts program titled The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, which has distributed 2,500 works from the Vogels’ collection of contemporary art throughout the nation, with 50 works going to a selected art institution in each of the 50 states.

This will be the first time the 50 works donated to the Huntington Museum of Art will be exhibited. The best-known aspects of the Vogel Collection are minimal and conceptual art, but the works donated to HMA also explore numerous directions of the post-minimalist period, including works of a figurative and expressionist nature.

The Vogel Collection has become characterized as unique among collections of contemporary art, both for the character and breadth of the objects and for the individuals who created it. Herbert Vogel (b. 1922), spent most of his working life as an employee of the United States Postal Service, and Dorothy Vogel (b. 1935), was a reference librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. Setting their collecting priorities above those of personal comfort, the couple used Dorothy’s salary to cover the expenses of daily life and devoted Herbert’s salary to the acquisition of contemporary art. They spent their free time attending art openings, and getting to know young artists whose work interested them. Usually they purchased work directly from the artists themselves, and continued to follow the careers of artists they supported. Their one bedroom apartment became legendary; so full of art it was close to becoming uninhabitable for lack of space.

A documentary film titled Herb and Dorothy was made by first time filmmaker Megumi Sasaki in 2008. The film tells the extraordinary story of these “collecting visionaries” who were able to build an art collection with very modest means, which is today worth millions of dollars. Many of the artists they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned, including Sol Lewitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert and Sylvia Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.

Recent Acquisitions: Gifts, Bequests, and Purchases 2005-2009

August 28 - November 28, 2010
Daywood and Daine galleries

In the past five years, more than 400 works have been donated to or purchased by the Huntington Museum of Art. The works come from private collections, art galleries, and artist studios – all come with a desire to be shared with the Museum’s visitors.

This exhibition will present highlights from these recent acquisitions and include works from ancient to contemporary in a wide range of materials and styles.

This group includes two small ancient Egyptian bronze figures; old master prints; works by 20th century masters of Haitian art; Asian ceramics; American and European decorative arts, paintings, works on paper; folk art; glass; video; works by visiting Gropius workshop artists; and artists of this region.

Curiosity and Wonder: The Collection of Dr. Marion C. Korstanje

June 12 - October 17, 2010
Switzer Gallery
Opening Reception: Sunday, July 18, 2010 - 2pm
Admission: Free

Lecture by Joel Oppenheimer from Joel Oppenheimer Gallery in Chicago takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 1, 2010. This event is sponsored by HMA’s Fitzpatrick Society.

Born in 1930, Dr. Marion C. Korstanje was the son of immigrants who came to the United States from the Netherlands to establish a bulb and flower business in Sybene, Ohio. He lived his life as a true renaissance man and became a noted ophthalmologist in Huntington, practicing for more than 40 years. He spoke many languages, loved reading, nature, travel and art, especially Asian ceramics, natural history and old master prints.

Beginning with the age of exploration in the 14th-17th centuries which took adventurers to uncharted territories, many new plant and bird species were also “discovered” and studied, especially by naturalist artists from Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, and the United States. Dr. Korstanje’s interest in, and decision to collect natural history prints is so logical it seems almost providential; combining his love of both art and science. He was a kindred spirit to, and shared many traits with the men and women who followed their passion in observing, classifying, and visually documenting these exotic new species. He was also a true philanthropist, and took great satisfaction in sharing his passion for art with others. He was an active and dedicated HMA board member for 12 years, and a knowledgeable member of the Museum’s Collections Committee.

This exhibition will present a selection of works from the more than 250 donated to the Museum’s permanent collection by Dr. Korstanje between the years 1969 and his death in 2007. On view will be works by the top artists working in the field of botanical and bird prints, including Mark Catesby, John Gould, John James Audubon, Alexander Wilson, Crispyn van de Passe, Pierre Joseph Redoute, and many others. It will also include Asian ceramics, and his small but choice collection of old master prints which he began just prior to his sudden passing.

This exhibit is generously sponsored by The Huntington Museum of Art Fitzpatrick Society; The Katherine & Herman Pugh Exhibitions Endowment; W. Bart Andrews In Honor of Doris Andrews; Anonymous; Warren and Judith Dumke In Memory of Anne Csernica; Dr. and Mrs. Michael Fiery; In Honor of Katherine Gleaton; Janina Michael In Memory of Adam Johnson; Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A. LoCascio; Mrs. Ruth I. Morris In Memory of Charles B. Morris, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Leon K. Oxley; Tully S. Roisman, M.D.; Dr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Scott.; and West Virginia Division of Culture and History and West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Jon Yamashiro

July 31 - September 26, 2010
Three-day Workshop: 9 am - 4 pm September 24 - September 26, 2010
Public presentation: 7 pm Thursday, September 23, 2010
Bridge Gallery

Much of the impetus for Yamashiro’s work comes from personal history, family situations, and cultural memories. In 2007, Yamashiro began photographing what remains of the World War II Japanese Internment camps in America. This exhibition presents 25 works from this series taken during family visits to 10 camp sites. They depict what remains; monuments or open spaces where the camps once stood. By incorporating his own children into some of these photographs, places Yamashiro refers to as “haunted landscapes, where people were held because of their inherited looks” he tries to address identity and race in contemporary America.

Another series began in 2007 which he refers to as “Imagination Portraits” use children (his own, and others), to deal with the concept of reality in today’s high-tech world. Yamashiro believes that “Technology has greatly affected all aspects of the world we live in but the questions children have remain the same … I am fascinated by the spaces between believable reality, imagination and child’s play.” Examples from this series will also be on view.

Jon Masuo Yamashiro was born the oldest son and raised as a third generation Okinawan American in the “cultural pastiche” of Honolulu, Hawaii. He traveled from the islands to study at Washington University in St. Louis and received his BFA in 1985, then went on to earn an MFA in photography from Indiana University in 1991. Since the fall of 1993, he has had the privilege of teaching photography to college students at Miami University. Jon lives in Liberty, Indiana with his wife Jennifer and their daughter, Lydia, and son, Luke. Last year he was the recipient of Miami University’s Alumni Association Effective Educator Award.