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.