Two New Exhibitions Open This Saturday

Binh Danh (Vietnamese/Cambodian-American, b. 1977), Son #2, 2006, chlorophyll print on grass, resin, 11-1/4 x 9-1/4 inches, courtesy of Haines Gallery and the artist

Two new exhibitions open this Saturday, September 4 at the UW Art Museum. Both exhibitions highlight portraiture and incorporate new and interesting materials. Binh Danh: Life, Times, and Matters of the Swamp features images from the Vietnam War, taken from Life magazine. Danh has developed a unique process of imprinting images onto living leaves and grasses, which he then preserves in resin. This prints, called chlorophyll prints, combine the living jungle with the images of those who died there.

Anne-Karin Furunes (Norwegian, b.1961), Portraits of Pictures - Portrait 18, 2007, acrylic on canvas, perforated, 88-1/4 x 63 inches, image courtesy of Barry Friedman Ltd.

Anne-Karin Furunes: Portraits of Unknowns features large-scale canvases that the artist has painted either black or white. She then perforates the canvases with various sized holes, which resembled the two-tone print pattern seen in images in newspapers and magazines. Furunes began this process using photographs from a Swedish archive devoted to the now-discredited notion of categorizing people by race, ethnicity, and mental capacity. Her work focuses on issues of identity, memory, and public consciousness.

An opening reception for all fall exhibitions will be held on Friday, September 17, 6-8 pm. It is free and open to the public. For more information on these exhibitions and the upcoming public programs that accompany them, please call the museum at 307.766.6622 or visit the website.

Final Days to See Neltje Exhibition

Neltje's large-scale mixed media work, PAT - Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia, features found objects, paper, and paint.

Only a few days remain to see the exhibition, Neltje, a solo exhibition by Wyoming abstract painter Neltje. The exhibition highlights her creative process, her approach to gesture and mark-making, and her most recent explorations with collage. Also featured is a large-scale Abstract Expressionist diptych and a series of collages.

A free cell phone audio tour accompanies Neltje and has been newly formatted. The audio tour offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the expressive work of this Wyoming artist. The final day to see the exhibition is Saturday, August 28. Be sure to stop by this week to see the work and use the audio tour. Your feedback on the features of the audio tour are a crucial element in how the Art Museum implements programming and education.

For more information on this or any exhibitions, call the Art Museum at 307.766.6622 or visit the website.

Two New Exhibitions Open on Saturday

Alice Neel (American, 1900-1984), A Bald Headed Man with a Striped Shirt – Pipe in Mouth, ed. 73/150, 1980, lithograph, 23-3/4 x 19-1/16 inches, gift of Mr. Ernesto Ostheimer, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection, 1982.180

The first of the new fall exhibitions open this Saturday at the UW Art Museum. Both exhibitions address themes of war and how artists in America, and Wyoming residents, reacted to and influenced the culture of the times.

Cold War in America: Works from the 1950s - 1970s, Selections from the Art Museum Collection addresses several major art genres that were developed during the time of the Cold War. These include Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and Pop Art. Works by artists such as Lee Krasner, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol exemplify these various styles and techniques.

Home Front on the Frontier: Wyoming During World War I is presented by the American Heritage Center and showcases important historical documents and photographs from the AHC archive. This exhibition explores how the citizens of Wyoming confronted the conflict of war and how life in the state was impacted.

These two exhibitions open to the public on Saturday, August 21. A free opening reception for all of the new fall exhibitions will be held on Friday, September 17, 6-8 pm. For more information on these exhibitions, please call 307.766.6622 or visit the Art Museum website.

Final Days to See Two Exhibitions

Raoul Dufy (French, 1877-1953), Éléphants (Elephants), c. 1920-1922, watercolor, gouache, 14.8 x 14.7 inches, image courtesy of the Humanities Exchange

This Saturday, August 21, two summer exhibitions will close at the UW Art Museum. Dufy by Design: The Fabric Designs of Raoul Dufy features wall hangings and other textiles designed by the French artist Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), who is known primarily as a painter. Also included in this exhibition are thirteen dresses by contemporary fashion designers Mongi Guibane and Christian LaCroix that feature fabric designs by Dufy. Two watercolors by Dufy are on view at the Art Museum and highlight the similarities between his painting and fabric designs in the way he handles line, color, and composition.

Harold Garde. painting. 50 years. is the first major retrospective of Florida based artist Harold Garde (American, b. 1923). Garde was a student at UW in the 1940s when he attended the university on the GI Bill. While at UW, he studied under acclaimed American Modernist painters George McNeil, Ilya Bolotowsky, and Leon Kelly. His abstract style uses bold color and repeating imagery.

Admission to the Art Museum is always free. Museum hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm. Stop in today before these two exhibitions close! For more information, please visit the website, or call 307.766.6622.

River High Scheduled to Depart Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational

John Henry, River High

photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

John Henry's River High, the massive, red sculpture at the Laramie Recreation Center, has been sold and will be removed from the exhibition Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational in September.  Plans are to de-install the work on Thursday, September 16.  If you haven't seen the work, now is the time to do so and if you have, now is the time to visit again!

This will be the fifth work to disappear from the original exhibition.  Previous works in Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational that have been removed are Deborah Butterfield, Billings; Steven Siegel, It Goes Under; James Surls, In Circle; and Charmaine Locke, Open Book.  Last year, Charles Long's Untitled work was added.  In the coming year, several new works are being planned to add to the exhibition.

20:20 SE WY - Save the Date!

Save the date for the fifth 20:20 event to be held at the UW Art Museum on Monday, September 20th, 7 pm. 20:20 is a fast paced presentation format where presenters are allowed to show only 20 images/slides, and each image is shown for only 20 seconds, which results in a 6 minute and 40 second presentation! Each 20:20 event focuses on a specific group in order to highlight a wide range of artists in the state. This coming 20:20 is open to artists, arts organizations, and arts educators from the Southeast region of the state.

This is an opportunity to share with colleagues your latest artwork, projects, or accomplishments. The goal of this program is keep communication open among artists in the state and to provide an opportunity to network. Advance sign up is required and is on a first come, first to present basis. If you have presented at a previous 20:20, you are welcome to present again, but new images or work must be shown. Images/slides must be in a PowerPoint format and submitted no later than Wednesday, September 8th.

For more information, or to sign up, please contact Assistant Curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu.

Neltje Video Interview Available Online

The latest in the series of artist interviews by UWTV is now available on the UW homepage (you may have to click the reload button until you see the above image). The video interview with Wyoming artist Neltje is also be available on the Art Museum's YouTube page.

Neltje was at the UW Art Museum in June to open her solo exhibition, Neltje, which is on view through August 28. While she was here, UWTV producer and director Ali Grossman filmed an interview with Neltje in front of her work. Neltje discusses things like her inspiration, working in Wyoming, and her creative process.

Be sure to check out the interview online, and the exhibition at the Art Museum, to learn more about this Wyoming abstract expressionist painter!

Final Week to See American Modernists Exhibition

Leon Kelly (American, 1901-1982), Bather Emerging from the Sea, 1952, oil on canvas, 36 x 26 inches, courtesy of Gratz Gallery

This is the final week to see the exhibition, American Modernists in Wyoming: George McNeil, Ilya Bolotowsky, and Leon Kelly. The last day to see the exhibition is Saturday, July 7.

This exhibition presents the work of three artists, each exploring a different form of abstraction in their work. George McNeil was an abstract expressionist, Ilya Bolotowsky painted in the geometric abstraction style, and Leon Kelly was a surrealist painter. These three painters were also professors at the University of Wyoming during the 1940s and 1950s. They taught painter Harold Garde, who came to UW during the 1940s on the GI Bill. Garde's retrospective exhibition, Harold Garde. painting. 50 years. is also currently on view and will remain open until August 21.

For more information on this or any other exhibition, please visit the Art Museum website, or call 307.766.6622.