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Exhibitions
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Exhibition: The Minox & the Big Shot -- Andy Warhol’s Photography (1970-87)
Exhibition runs September 23rd through December 13th, 2009. Opening: Wednesday, September 23rd, 5-7:30 pm. The University Gallery proudly presents its acquisition of 100 original Polaroid photographs and 50 original black and white gelatin silver prints dating from 1970 to 1987 granted through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. These photographs were given to the University Gallery as part of an unprecedented gift in honor of the Andy Warhol Foundation's 20th anniversary. The aim of the Photographic Legacy Program is to provide greater access to Warhol's artwork and process, and to enable a wide range of people from communities across the country to view and study this important yet relatively unknown body of Warhol's work.
An obsessive photographer, Warhol took more than 100,000 photographs between 1976 and 1987, most with his SX70 Polaroid camera (which Polaroid kept in production just for Warhol) and black and white prints with a pocket-sized Minox 35 mm camera. Some Polaroids served as source material for large, silk-screened portrait paintings for which Warhol is famous. These photographs range from celebrities to unidentified acquaintances or patrons. The black and white snapshots offer a fascinating glimpse of the people and places of Warhol's life. In the end, some of the most captivating photographs are not the celebrities, but rather those of everyday objects and people.
As the University Gallery’s first Curatorial Fellow, Kathleen Banach (M.A. candidate in Art History ’09) will work in consultation with the staff of the University Gallery and art history professor Mario Ontiveros to focus her research on these photographs. She will be the first to study this relatively unknown body of Warhol’s work.
Seen in conjunction with this exhibition is CONNECTING THE DOTS….. THE WARHOL LEGACY: TOM FRIEDMAN, ELLLEN GALLAGHER, VIK MUNIZ, ROB PRUITT, an exhibition of work by four acclaimed contemporary artists who explore themes and ideas central to Andy Warhol’s artistic practice.
Check the University Gallery’s website for related panel discussions, guest speakers, and film screenings.
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 am-4:30 pm; Saturday & Sunday 2-5 pm. Wheelchair accessible. Free parking evenings and weekends.
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Exhibition: Connecting the Dots….the Warhol Legacy: Tom Friedman, Ellen Gallagher, Vik Muniz & Rob Pruitt
Exhibition runs September 23rd through December 13th, 2009. Opening: Wednesday, September 23rd, 5-7:30 pm.
An exhibition of work by four acclaimed contemporary artists who explore themes and ideas central to Andy Warhol’s artistic practice, demonstrating how Warhol’s legacy continues to influence and shape the content of the work of a new generation of artists. Rather than look strictly at artists who have been stylistically influenced by Warhol, this exhibition focuses on the work of four leading artists where the Warholian impulse is more conceptual and subtle.
Tom Friedman transforms mundane consumer products into playful yet meticulously crafted artworks of almost obsessive intricacy. Friedman’s art is characterized by its attention to process and use of modest, ephemeral materials. Friedman also displays a sly, almost scientific interest in systems of representation. Works in the exhibition will include the serial sculpture 9 Lives and two digital prints, Dollar Bill (2000) and Mandala (2008), commissioned by University Gallery and UMass Art Dept.
Repetition and revision are central to Ellen Gallagher’s treatment of advertisements that she appropriates from popular magazines such as Ebony, Our World, and Sepia. Her medium of printmaking, immersed in ideas about process and the mechanics of transformation, echoes some of Warhol’s themes. However her aesthetic strategy differs from her predecessor in its autobiographical dimension and focus on the issue of racial identity, while at the same time suggesting a more formal reading with respect to materials, processes, and altered states.
Vik Muniz defies traditional concerns over appropriation and authorship to reveal the power of images in our collective memory. Creating images made of dust, chocolate sauce, sugar, or thread, his work is informed by media and popular culture. This exhibition will include The Best of Life (1989 – 2000), a portfolio of ten Memory Renderings, which are photographs of drawings he drew from his recollection of photographs from Life magazine between 1936 and 1972.
Rob Pruitt’s work is rooted in a pop sensibility and a playful critique of art world structures. His conceptual projects have encompassed sensational staged events as well as simple gestures that promote possibilities for creativity in everyday life. Pruitt’s work is always characterized by an incisive humor and exuberant visual flair. This exhibition will focus on iPruitt (2008), snapshots taken with his mobile camera.
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 am-4:30 pm; Saturday & Sunday 2-5 pm. Wheelchair accessible. Free parking evenings and weekends.
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William Kentridge: What Will Come
This installation features the debut of an important new addition to the SCMA collection, “What Will Come” (2006), a major film by the South African artist William Kentridge. One of the most innovative aspects of Kentridge’s work is his hand-drawn films. “What Will Come” takes its title from a Ghanaian proverb: “What will come has already come," a sentiment reflected in the imagery of the film, which speaks to the range of conflicts that have marked modern human history. This work also displays Kentridge’s keen interest in optics. The film is projected from the ceiling onto a round metal table which bears a polished circular column in its center. The images are reflected on the surface of the column, which corrects the perspective of the drawing for the viewer. The images circumnavigate this column, changing form as they move to a haunting musical track. Through Dec. 31. For more information abou this exhibition, museum hours and other museum information, see www.smith.edu/artmuseum/.
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Exhibit: The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art
Exhibit runs 9/14-12/18. Showcasing the works of local authors/illustrators: Leonard Baskin, Kathryn Brown, Corinne Demas, Patricia MacLachlan, Richard Michelson, Dennis Nolan, Jane Yolen.
Info: 545-3971 or http://tiny.cc/picturebook. Gallery hours follow library hours: open Saturdays 9 am-9 pm, then Sunday from 11 am onward, open 24 hours a day through Friday (www.library.umass.edu/hours.html). Handicap accessible.
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Exhibit: All Roads Lead Back to Amherst
Exhibit runs 9/15-12/11. Nature photographs by Annie (Fournier) Tiberio Cameron ’73, UMass Amherst.
Opening reception 9/15, 4:00-6:00 pm, refreshments.
Handicap accessible. More info: www.library.umass.edu/news
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Touch Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics by Women Artists
Composed of more than 90 vibrant and dynamic ceramic sculptures, this exhibitition features leading contemporary Japanese women artists working within and transforming a medium traditionally associated with men. The accompanying catalogue, with an essay by ceramics specialist Todate Kazuko, Chief Curator at the Tsukuba Art Museum (Ibaraki, Japan) and artists biographies by Wahei Aoyama, provides the first in-depth study of the phenomenal rise of women ceramic artists in Japan. Oct. 9-Feb. 28, 2010. See http://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/general/ for Museum hours and other information.
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Exhibit: Never Again: Genocide from Cambodia to Darfur and Beyond
Exhibit runs 11/2/09-11/13/09. The public is cordially invited to a reception on Tuesday 11/3 from 5-6pm, immediately followed by artist talks in the gallery.
The Student Union Art Gallery proudly presents three exhibits that share a commitment to educating our communities about genocide and empowering people to take action.
The exhibits by artist Amy Fagin, artist Leah Roth-Howe, and organizers STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition and the Western Massachusetts Darfur Coalition will share the gallery space to create dialogue about genocide in all corners of the world.
STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition and the Western Massachusetts Darfur Coalition present The Children of Darfur: Surviving Genocide, a collection of drawings made by children at the Kalma refugee camp in Darfur. While children were in line to receive shots and medical treatment, Dr. Jerry Erhlich of Doctors Without Borders gave them crayons and paper and asked them to draw ‘what your life in Darfur is.’
Through a 100 Projects For Peace grant, Leah Roth-Howe spent 8 months living and working with Cambodian-American and Cambodian youth and adults who are struggling to understand their history and place in the world. Ending the Silence in Cambodia is an exhibit of the drawings, poetry, and prose they created in artistic workshops to explore the legacies of the Khmer Rouge genocide.
Beyond Genocide is an exhibit of contemporary illuminated manuscripts by artist Amy Fagin. The thoroughly researched and delicately rendered manuscripts wrestle intimately with mass atrocities from all corners of the planet. The exhibit is a powerful artistic commentary on the history of genocide and its legacy to our planet.
The Office of Jewish Affairs is holding panel discussions related to this exhibit:
Genocide, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness 11/3, 7:30pm.
Genocide: From Justice to Prevention 11/10, 7:00pm.
For information on related events, please see: www.umass.edu/jewish/programs/genocide09/
Sponsored by the UMass Office of Jewish Affairs, STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, Western Massachusetts Darfur Coalition, Harold Grinspoon Foundation, the UMass Arts Council, the Student Government Association, and the Graduate Student Senate.
Gallery Hours: M-Th 10-5, F 10-3.
Extended hours until 9:30 pm on Tues 11/3 and 11/10.
Closed 11/11 for Veteran’s Day.
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A Plantsman in Asia
Compelling color photographs by Paul W. Meyer tell vivid stories about the importance of plants in the lives of Asian peoples. The photos were taken over a period of 20 years of plant exploration in the Far East. Meyer, a
leader in the field of plant exploration and evaluation, will be speaking at Smith Nov. 13 in conjunction with Bamboo and Blossoms: The Fall Chrysanthemum Show at Smith Nov. 7-22. The photographs will be on exhibition October 17 through December 15.
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Lecture/Reading
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How do I... ? The Practical Steps to Financing a Life
Visiting financial experts will supplement the information provided in "Financing Life" by sharing the practical steps to filing taxes, buying a home, etc. Sponsored by Women and Financial Independence: The Smith College Center for Financial Education. For more information, contact WFI at 413.585.3653 or visit them on the web at www.smith.edu/wfi. Lunch provided for the first 75 attendees.
November 3:
Selecting a Financial Planner Presentation by a financial advisor with the Northwestern Mututal Financial Network.
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“Alternate Reality Gaming: A model for large-scale problem-based learning?”
50 minute seminar. Speaker: Steve Brewer, Dept. of Biology, University of Massachusetts. Refreshments served 3:45pm. Handicapped accessible.
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Department of Classics and Psychology Lecture: "Does Your Mother Tongue Affect the Way You Think?"
Professor of Classics and Psychology at the University of Leiden, Guy Deutscher, will deliver a lecture concerning what can be salvaged from linguistic relativity. "The English of today is not what it used to be," says linguist Guy Deutscher, "but then again, it never was." This lecture is co-sponsored by the Departments of Classics and Psychology and is free and open to the public.
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Poetry Reading.
Poets Matthew and Michael Dickman read from their work.
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Music
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Music in the Noon Hour.
The Music in the Noon Hour series continues, featuring Brahms Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Opus 87 performed by Smith music faculty members Joel Pitchon, violin; Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello; and Judith Gordon, piano.
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American Shakespeare Center to perform Romeo and Juliet.
As the late great Elvis Presley once sang, “Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help, falling in love with you.” William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet beautifully illustrates this timeless truth. On Tuesday, November 3, the American Shakespeare Center returns to UMass on its 2009/2010 Rough, Rude, and Boisterous Tour, presenting the classic tale in its own inimitable style. The production is co-sponsored by the UMass Fine Arts Center and the Massachusetts Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies. For tickets and information, call the FAC box office at 413-545-2511 or 1-800-999-UMAS; order online at https://umafacweb.admin.umass.edu/Online/.
With its ravishing language and uproarious comedy, Romeo and Juliet celebrates Love’s triumph and its trivialities. Verona’s walls embrace the volatility of youth as well as the wisdom and restraint that often escape young and old alike. Dance, athleticism, and swordplay share the stage with sonnets, bawdy wit, and soul-searching speeches in this profoundly human and always surprising masterpiece.
ASC’s production features Brandi Rhome as Juliet, and Josh Carpenter in the role of Romeo. Josh has appeared onstage professionally in New York and around the Northeast; Brandi appeared as Ophelia in last year’s ASC performance of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at UMass, and has an impressive string of professional credits in New York productions.
Director Jim Warren comments, “An element of timeless truth in R&J is that young people often have sex on the brain; it's a play filled with some of the bawdiest humor Shakespeare ever wrote. These Capulet and Montague teenagers are fixated on sex, sexual humor, and plain 'ol dirty jokes - just like teenagers today and teens of every era. The crushed-velvet Shakespeare‚ that many romanticize as high culture‚ has given us the preconceptions that R&J is just some sort of sanitized and beautiful romance; but the first half of R&J is probably the funniest (and bawdiest) first half of any play in his canon. I believe that this humor allows the tragedy of Mercutio's death and the second half of the play to resonate on a deeper level. I say it often about Shakespeare's plays: it's a drama, it's a comedy, just like life.”
By following the basic principles of Renaissance theatrical production, the American Shakespeare Center gives its audiences some of the pleasures that an Elizabethan playgoer would have enjoyed. This includes using universal lighting, doubling of parts, and a certain amount of gender confusion. Minimal sets, costuming appropriate to the status and role of the character, and music throughout the performance reproduce 16th century conditions as best can be deduced from period records. The result is emblematic of their approach-a commitment to Shakespeare's text and to the mission of connecting that text to modern audiences.
The Massachusetts Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies is an internationally renowned center for the interdisciplinary study of the culture and achievements of the Renaissance period (1400-1700). The Center contributes to the field of Renaissance studies through research, teaching, and outreach to the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, the Amherst community, and beyond. For more information about the Center and a full calendar of activities, visit the Center’s web page at www.umass.edu/renaissance.
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