University of Richmond Museums Opens Five New Exhibitions in August
August 5, 2004
Visions from the Soul: Woodcuts by Hans Friedrich Grohs
August 18 to October 8, 2004, Marsh Art Gallery
Cuba Plástica: Recent Art from Cuba
August 18 to October 8, 2004, Marsh Art Gallery
Martha MacLeish: Wall Constructions
August 18 to December 12, 2004, Marsh Art Gallery
"In Praise of Folly" by Desiderius Erasmus: Wood Engravings
by Fritz Eichenberg
August 18 to December 5, 2004, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center
Semi-Annual Student Exhibition
August 18 to September 19, 2004, Marsh Art Gallery
The exhibition Visions from the Soul: Woodcuts by Hans Friedrich Grohs presents more than 100 powerful woodcuts by Hans Friedrich Grohs (German, 1892-1981). Grohs produced art between 1913 and 1964, and his work reflects his experiences serving in the military in both world wars as well as the sufferings of humankind during this turbulent era. Linked with the Bauhaus as well as German Expressionism, Grohs' striking imagery explores themes of death, war, religion, and landscape.
As a young master student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Grohs studied under Lyonel Feininger but he left the academy in 1919 following a controversial dispute with founder Walter Gropius regarding the sacrifice of German "identity" for the increasing internationalism of the institution's mission. The Northern Gothic arts as well German literature, history, and religion (Grohs was a devout Lutheran) clearly informed his work, as exemplified by his religious prints depicting the life of Christ and images of the rugged beauty of his native Dithmarschen region in northern Germany.
Despite his allegiance to Germanic themes, in 1937 Grohs' expressionist style was targeted by the Nazi party and labeled "degenerate art." With his creations banned from public exhibition, confiscated, and then burned, Grohs was forbidden to create art and was drafted into the army at the age of 50 and in poor health. Following the war, the instability and repression in Germany brought hardship for the artist, and consequently his art took on a tragic and escapist tone for the remainder of his life.
In his woodcuts such as "Death Over the Trenches" (1918) and "I Bear My Cross and Find My Peace" (1964), Grohs utilized the stark contrast of the black ink on paper to enhance dramatic and sometimes claustrophobic compositions. In doing so, his work balances between the nihilism spawned by the social and political conditions of his environment and his deep respect for German history as well as his religious faith.
The exhibition was organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art and curated by Daniel Piersol, The Doris Zemurrary Stone Curator of Prints and Drawings. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue published by the New Orleans Museum of Art and available at the University Museums. At the Marsh Art Gallery, University Museums, the exhibition is made possible in part with the generous support of the University's Cultural Affairs Committee and the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and with funds from the Louis S. Booth Arts Fund.
Also opening in the Marsh Art Gallery is Cuba Plástica: Recent Art from Cuba, which features artwork by ten artists living and working in Cuba. Presented are paintings, drawings, videos, photographs and prints by Juan Carlos Alom, Agustín Bejarano, Zaida del Río, Juan Roberto Diago, Roberto Fabelo, Alicia Leal, Guillermo Malberti, Juan Carlos Menéndez Ruiz, Cirenaica Moreira, and Juan Moreira.
The art of these individuals translates the daily struggles and constant suffering of everyday Cuban life into personal artistic responses. The strength of the Cuban people against the political and social instability of the past decade is evident in the strong personal voices present in their art works. These artists communicate beyond political belief and offer an examination of universal aesthetic concerns. The complexities of Cuba itself are reflected in the diverse works created by these artists; the people are impoverished and suffering and yet manifest a strong intellectual capability that endows them with the fortitude to transcend their obstacles.
Organized by the University of Richmond Museums the exhibition was co-curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, and Claudia Ferman, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Richmond. The exhibition was made possible in part with the generous support of the Associated Colleges of the South.
For the exhibition Martha MacLeish: Wall Constructions, MacLeish (American, born 1962) created a series of four wall constructions in the Booth Lobby Gallery of the Modlin Center for the Arts. Divided into four parts, the flat and curved shapes are intended to destabilize and offset the architectural space found in the lobby gallery. Working with University of Richmond art students, MacLeish will alter her installation throughout the semester, adding colors to manipulate the construction's relationship to the space and to the viewer.
MacLeish received her B.A. in art history and B.F.A. in painting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her M.F.A. in painting from Yale University. She has taught at various universities through the country, including Indiana University and the Savannah College of Art and Design, and her work has been shown in more than twenty group exhibitions.
Martha MacLeish: Wall Constructions was organized by the University of Richmond Museums in collaboration with the University's Department of Art and Art History, and co-curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, and Erling Sjovold, Assistant Professor of Art, University of Richmond.
On view at the Joel and Lila Print Study Center, the exhibition "In Praise of Folly" by Desiderius Erasmus: Wood Engravings by Fritz Eichenberg highlights a portfolio of prints by artist Fritz Eichenberg (American, born Germany, 1901-1990), based on the philosopher Erasmus' satire on human folly (written in 1511). The exhibition also examines the artist's extensive career, his artistic influences, and the wood engraving technique.
Eichenberg began his career as a political cartoonist for newspapers in Germany. After immigrating to New York in 1933 to escape mounting Nazi tensions, he received commissions to illustrate new editions of classic literature, including Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Crime and Punishment. Involved with social causes, he taught at the New School for Social Research, produced works for the Federal Arts Project, crafted cartoons for The Nation, and created religious images for the newspaper The Catholic Worker. Eichenberg began teaching at The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1947 and founded and directed the Pratt Graphic Arts Center in Manhattan from 1961 to 1972, which contributed to the re-establishment of printmaking as an academic discipline in America.
Writing during the Renaissance period, Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch, 1469-1536) edited and interpreted the Greek New Testament from a humanist perspective, and he also espoused reform within the Protestant and Catholic churches. His book In Praise of Folly was a social commentary on the vanity of humankind, the foolishness of the aristocratic class, and the corruption of governing church hierarchy--themes which Eichenberg found still relevant and biting four hundred years later. Eichenberg was critical of injustice without making individual accusations as demonstrated in The Follies of War, which illustrates the universal madness and disregard for human life associated with war. Using dramatic contrasts between black and white as well as emotional gestures and expressions, Eichenberg's prints convey his abiding concern for peace and social equality.
Other selections in the exhibition, including The City and Country Mice (1976) and The Crucifixion (1980), demonstrate the artist's fascination with literature, his political voice, and his fusion of art and religious thought.
Organized by the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums the exhibition was co-curated by N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Assistant Director, University Museums, and Lindsay Kurlak '05, art history major, University of Richmond, and the 2004 Joel and Lila Harnett Summer Research Fellow.
Also opening in the Marsh Art Gallery is the Semi-Annual Student Exhibition. Selected by the studio art faculty of the University's Department of Art and Art History, this exhibition features a range of student works by art majors and minors along with non-majors enrolled in studio art courses during the University's spring semester. Organized by the University of Richmond Museums in collaboration with the University's Department of Art and Art History, the exhibition was coordinated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums.
Programming in conjunction with Visions from the Soul: Woodcuts by Hans Friedrich Grohs:
Lecture and Concert, Wednesday, September 1, 2004, 7:30 p.m.
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Center for the Arts
"A Printmaker's Journey: The Woodcuts of Hans Friedrich Grohs,"
presented by Daniel Piersol, The Doris Zemurray Stone Curator of Prints
and Drawings, New Orleans Museum of Art, and curator of the exhibition
"A Musician's Journey: German and Austrian Music of the Early 20th
Century," performed by University of Richmond faculty, Jennifer Cable,
soprano, Paul Hanson, piano, Charles Hulin IV, piano, and Jeffrey Riehl,
tenor
Reception and viewing of the exhibition, Wednesday, September 1, 2004,
8:30-9:30 p.m.
Booth Lobby, Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums, Modlin
Center for the Arts
Exhibition Walk-through, Thursday, September 2, 2004, 2-3 p.m.
Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums, Modlin Center for the
Arts
Frauken Collinson Grohs, the artist's daughter, and Robert P. Bareikis,
Arthur and Emily Webb Professor of International Studies Centenary College,
Shreveport, LA, and co-author of the exhibition catalogue
Programming in conjunction with "In Praise of Folly" by Desiderius Erasmus: Wood Engravings by Fritz Eichenberg:
Brown Bag Lunch Series, Friday, September 17, 2004, Noon-1 p.m.
Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University Museums, Modlin Center
for the Arts
" Artist on the Witness Stand: The Wood Engravings of Fritz Eichenberg,"
presented by Lindsay Kurlak '05, art history major, University of Richmond,
the 2004 Joel and Lila Harnett Summer Fellow, and co-curator of the exhibition.
This talk is part of a series of lunchtime lectures at the University
of Richmond Museums. Drinks and cookies will be provided, participants
should bring their own lunches.
All programs are free and open to the public.