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2010 Exhibitions
The 42-Letter Name: A Portfolio of Prints by Robert Kirschbaum
September 24-December 19
This exhibition continues the Art Museum’s series of exhibitions by contemporary artists whose work addresses spirituality. Based in contemplation of the holy name of God, these black and white relief prints are inspired by the first letter of each word in a nearly 2,000-year old, 42-word mystical prayer ascribed to Rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Qanah. The prints’ abstract forms, axonometric drawings based on a nine-square grid, sometimes evoke Hebrew letter forms, and sometimes reference the Temple or suggest Jewish ritual objects, but all allude to creation and the infinite.
American Anthology: 20th-Century Paintings and Prints from Regionalism to Conceptual Art American
September 24-December 19
Anthology surveys a variety of influential movements in 20th-century art, ranging from the representational to the abstract. It includes painters who sought to develop a distinctly American art as well as immigrants who brought European styles to America. Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and Georgina Klitgaard epitomize the regionalist styles of the early 20th century, while American interpretations of cubism and fauvism are represented by Fannie Hillsmith and Jehudith Sobel. Also included are the later abstractions of op art as seen in works by Reginald Neal and Vincent Longo, as well as the conceptual art of Sol LeWitt. This exhibition combines loans from private collections with works from the permanent collection of University of Saint Joseph Art Museum.
Project 35 Contemporary Artist Videos Selected by 35 International Curators
October 26-January 23
A year long exhibition of single-channel video works selected by 35 international curators, each of whom has chosen a single work, Project 35 will be displayed simultaneously in multiple international venues. University of Saint Joseph Art Museum is among the first to host Project 35 in its entirety. As curator Maria del Carmen Carrión points out, Project 35’s “extended distribution, concurrent presentation, and internationality” go “back to a basic principle that was core to video art at its initial appearance: broad access and circulation, which appear to have gotten lost as this medium became rarefied by the market.” It demonstrates the global reach that video has achieved as a medium of contemporary art. The exhibition will be presented in four parts, each featuring eight to nine videos.
Project 35 is a traveling exhibition organized and circulated by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York. The exhibition and tour are made possible, in part, by grants from The Cowles Charitable Trust; Foundation for Contemporary Art; the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; The Toby Fund; and iCI Benefactors Agnes Gund, Gerrit and Sydie Lansing, Jo Carole Lauder, and Barbara and John Robinson.
Telling Tales
June 18-September 5
This exhibition features works of art with narrative content; some illustrate novels or popular songs, others are inspired by mythology or historical events. It includes George Bellow’s boxing lithograph Dempsey and Firpo, Thomas Hart Benton’s lithographs of Frankie and Johnny and Huck Finn, as well as Eugene Higgins’ monotype Moby Dick and Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s wood block prints Evening Faces (Yûgao), Lady at the Bridge (Hishihime) and The Wizard (Maboroshi).
With a View to Abstraction
March 26-June 6, 2010
This exhibition presents a group of landscapes that incorporate varying degrees of abstraction. Together they span the 20th century, ranging from a small oil painting by Louis Eilshemius to an aquatint by Pat Steir (a promised gift of the Reverend Charles J. Topper). A recent acquisition painted by contemporary artist Carol Anthony (the gift of the Reverend Thomas J. Barry) is included as well as a drawing of Sunlit Woods by Charles Burchfield, on loan from the Collection of Ken Ratner.
Eugene Higgins: Religious Themes
March 26-September 5
This is a small installation of works by an early 20th-century painter who is best known for his monumental and ennobling depictions of the poor and homeless. Encouraged by the Reverend Andrew J. Kelly, who was the first donor of art to University of Saint Joseph (1937), Higgins also undertook a number of religious subjects, several of which are included in this installation.
Performance!
March 26-June 6, 2010
PERFORMANCE! brings together American and European 20th-century prints and drawings that focus on musicians, dancers, and theatre and circus performers. Many of these works, including drawings by Walt Kuhn and Don Freeman, are on loan from the Collection of Ken Ratner. Also included are prints from the Art Museum’s permanent collection by Marc Chagall and Fernand Léger as well as a pen and ink drawing by William Glackens.
Life Lessons: Sixteenth-Century Allegorical Prints from the Low Countries
March 26-June 6, 2010
This exhibition features three series of Renaissance engravings that are rich in symbolism. Each of The Seven Virtues, designed by Pieter Bruegel, depicts a female personification surrounded by scenes that exemplify the Virtue. The Vain Hope for Worldly Gain, designed by Maerten van Heemskerck, illustrates the unhappy result when a young man is seduced by the Devil into placing his hope in earthly treasure. Similar reminders of human frailties are found in The Four Ages of Man (The Times of Day), which ends with an engraving of The Last Judgment in which the Theological Virtues sponsor the good man as he kneels before God, while the damned are consumed by Hell.
Prints 1950-1980
January 15-March 14, 2010
This exhibition highlights mid- to late twentieth century prints from the Art Museum’s permanent collection. Many of these works are part of the Sister Mary Theodore Kelleher Collection, established in 1969 in honor of University of Saint Joseph’s outgoing president. Also included are eight new acquisitions including works by Isabel Bishop, Anni Albers, Duilio Barnabé, and Luciano Minguzzi.