Culture
Kennedy Museum Launches Seven New Exhibits
By: Amy Schmitt
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The Kennedy Museum of Art, located at Ohio University’s Lin Hall on The Ridges, houses numerous exhibitions for Athens residents to enjoy.
This fall, the Kennedy is hosting seven new exhibits, many of which are already open to the public.
frugalworld
Kim Abeles’ frugalworld is available for viewing at the Kennedy until Jan. 19, 2015. Abeles is a social practice artist from Los Angeles. Her works, which are often community projects, focus mainly on environmental, sexual, social and domestic issues in society. Frugalworld highlights human materialism, consumption, and waste.
One of the most eye-catching pieces is a community project entitled Paper Person, a large humanoid structure made entirely of trash.
“The exhibition frugalworld demonstrates the effects of human waste and consumption on the environment and consists of several bodies of work created in the waste/consumption themes, said Kennedy Museum Curator Petra Kralickova. “In a small size gallery, Abeles has created an overwhelming sense of overconsumption. Visitors will find photographs, mixed media large scale sculpture, small objects, video and interactive media.”
Abeles earned her MFA in studio art from the University of California Irvine and her BFA in painting at Ohio University.
Truisms
Jenny Holzer is a conceptual artist who earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree at Ohio University. Located on the second floor of the Kennedy, Holzer’s Truisms is available for public viewing through Jan. 18.
The exhibit includes eight posters, each with–in Holzer’s words–“one-liners on many subjects written from different perspectives.” Originally, Holzer posted these “truisms” anonymously on buildings and signs across Lower Manhattan.
“Featuring a series of offset lithographs made between 1977-79, the series titled Truisms includes texts that capitalize and comment on clichés like ‘Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise,’ ‘Money Creates Taste,’ and ‘Lack of Charisma Can be Fatal.’ These texts cover a wide emotional spectrum, at times poignant and concerned, and also indignant and resigned,”said Kralickova.
Clarence H. White: Pictorial Images of Women
Curated by Jody Lamb, associate dean of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts, Clarence H. White: Pictorial Images of Women will run through Dec. 14. Like Truisms, this exhibition is located on the second floor gallery.
Clarence H. White was an American photographer during the 20th century. Born in Newark, Ohio, he established the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York City, the first photography school in the U.S. As an artist, White was passionate about pictorial photography, a type of photography which can be identified by its seeming lack of focus, created by some type of manipulation on the surface of the image.
This exhibition includes many photographs of women and their children in the pictorial style, and also includes works of Clarence H. White, Jr. Dr. Lamb is scheduled for a noon talk on Nov. 19 from 12:10-12:50 p.m.
“Clarence Hudson White was one of the most gifted fine arts photographers during the early 20th century and a founding member of the Photo-Secession, America’s most radical photographic movement at the turn of the century,” explained Kralickova. “A central theme throughout his career was the life of middle class American women and their children. His wife, children, relatives and friends are often posed in contemplative settings given an intensity and beauty by White’s great mastery of light.”
Women III
Curated by Ohio University Associate Professor Jennie Klein, Women III will be on display through Jan. 18. The third and final exhibit in a series of works by female artists, Women III focuses on the Third Wave of feminism. Third Wave Feminism involves all feminist movements from the 1990s to present day and encapsulates the idea of intersectionality. This is the idea that oppression is based not only on gender, race, class or sexual orientation, but on a mixture of all identities.
Women III features artists such as Lorna Simpson, Kathryn Reeves, Kara Walker and Hye Young Shin.
“These artists ultimately challenged media images of women in order to dispel the belief that female identity is based solely in biology. Featuring predominantly prints, this exhibition also includes a large sculptural installation by artist Melanie Yazzie, titled Three Little Indians,” said Kralickova.
ERMAHGERD Part 2
Jaimie Warren, an artist based in Kansas City, Mo., and Brooklyn, N.Y., will share her exhibit ERMAGHERD (part 2) through Dec. 21. Warren, whose works explore themes of modern female identity, is an award-winning photographer and performance artist. Many of her photographs are self-portraits, often depicting herself as various celebrities, historical figures and even inanimate objects like grilled cheese or a giant blob riding a bicycle.
“ERMAHGERD (Part 2) includes three series of photographs. Two of these include found Photoshopped images that mix celebrities with food and re-created paintings from art history. The third series offers a visual collision of images pairing celebrities with objects, animals and other celebrities to show, in a humorous way, their likeness,” said Kralickova.
Jaimie Warren is scheduled for a noon talk at the Kennedy on Sept. 18 from 12:10–12:50 p.m. ERMAHGERD (part 1) may be viewed at Ohio University’s Trisolini Gallery through Oct. 30.
The Trailer
The Bridge Club is a collective group of artists that includes Annie Strader, Christine Owen, Emily Bivens and Julie Wills. Their work investigates specific local histories, populations, contexts, stereotypes, expectations and conflicts.
The Trailer, a mobile installation and touring series of live performances by The Bridge Club, is centered around and inside a vintage camping trailer. The project ischeduled to tour Athens County on April 23-24 with a stop at Nelsonville’s Final Fridays event.
Lyrics of My People
Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Frederick Douglass and Malcom X are among the many figures represented in Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.’s exhibit, Lyrics of my People, on display through Jan. 4.
Lyrics of My People features posters designed in the letterpress style, each expressing a theme of social justice. Kennedy, who earned his MFA at the University of Wisconsin, creates these posters on chipboard and sells them to the public.
“In a separate gallery, there will be a large ceiling-to-floor grid of a series of posters containing the words of Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others,” said Kralickova.
Kennedy, Jr. is scheduled to talk during an opening reception for all of the museum’s fall exhibits on Sept. 19 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information about the Kennedy Museum of Art, visit www.ohio.edu/museum.