MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

December 2, 2004

January 2005 Visual Arts Calendar

Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. The museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The museum is closed on Monday. Admission to the museum is free; unless noted, admission to all programs is also free. For information regarding Block Museum exhibitions, programs or location, phone (847) 491-4000 or go to the Block Museum Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.

BLOCK WINTER 2005 EXHIBITIONS

“How We Might Live: The Arts and Crafts Interior,” Jan. 4 through March 6, Alsdorf Gallery. American Arts and Crafts designer and furniture manufacturer Gustav Stickley took inspiration from the principles laid down by British artist William Morris, yet developed his own Arts and Crafts style. Featuring a selection of original furniture and decorative objects for the home such as chairs, bookcases, wallpaper and tapestries designed and produced by their companies -- Morris & Co. and Stickley’s United Crafts and Craftsman Workshops -- the exhibition will compare the works of Morris and Stickley. Northwestern University Art History Professor Stephen F. Eisenman, Block Museum associate curator Corinne Granof and several graduate students from Northwestern’s art history department organized the exhibition.

“The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design,” Jan. 21 through March 13, Main Gallery and Print, Drawing and Photography Study Center. Organized by The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., the exhibition includes more than 125 designs by Morris & Co. for stained glass, wallpaper, textiles, embroidery and tapestry, as well as a handwritten book of dye recipes. The exhibition also examines Morris’ printing venture, the Kelmscott Press, with a selection of designs for books and books published by the press. In addition to showcasing Morris and his partners’ genius for design, the exhibition also explores Morris’ fashioning of new forms and styles based upon his passion for the art and culture of the past. 

“The Greeting,” Jan. 21 through March 13, Katz Digital Gallery. Inspired by 16th century Italian artist Jacopo Pontormo’s painting “The Visitation” (1528-29), contemporary American video artist Bill Viola’s slow motion video/sound work “The Greeting” prolongs a brief social exchange to reveal the complexity of emotions in human encounters. 

ADULT TOURS AT THE BLOCK

Weekend Docent-Led Tours, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, from Jan. 22 to March 13. Block Museum docents will lead free tours of the galleries that begin in the museum lobby. Reservations are not necessary.

Docent-Led Group Tours, by appointment. The Block Museum offers free docent-led tours to groups of eight or more. Guided tours are approximately 45 minutes to an hour and are available each day the museum is open. Scheduled tour requests should be made at least four weeks in advance by calling (847) 491-4852 or by completing the Group Visit Registration Form at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/welcome/tours.html.

ONGOING EXHIBITION

“Theo Leffmann: Weaving a Life into Art,” ongoing exhibition, Theo Leffmann Gallery. Theo Leffmann is recognized as a rich contributor to the American fiber art movement in the late 20th century. For more than 30 years, she liberated textiles from practical and decorative applications by using them as a means of personal expression. The Theo Leffmann Gallery highlights selections from the more than 75 fiber constructions by Leffmann in the Block Museum’s permanent collection.

BLOCK SCULPTURE GARDEN

The Sculpture Garden of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art constitutes one of the most significant groupings of modern sculpture in the region. In 1987, Leigh Block, one of the museum’s inaugural donors and a preeminent collector of modern art, bequested a large group of outdoor bronze sculptures to the museum. These pieces formed the core of the collection, which now features monumental sculptures by some of the 20th century’s most renowned European and American sculptors. They include Jean (Hans) Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, Joan Miró and Henry Moore.

In 1989, the Block Museum opened its Sculpture Garden with nine of the monumental bronzes donated by Block. The Sculpture Garden was designed by Chicago architect John Vinci and has grown to 22 pieces through donations and acquisitions. Profiles of the artists and their works, and a brochure detailing the sculpture collection, are available online on the Block Museum Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/sculpture. It is open year-round.

DITTMAR MEMORIAL GALLERY

Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Admission is free. The Dittmar Memorial Gallery places emphasis on ethnic cultural art, art by emerging artists, art by or about women, artwork by Northwestern undergraduate and graduate art students and traveling art shows. For information, call the Dittmar Gallery at (847) 491-2348 or Norris University Center at (847) 491-2300, or e-mail dittmargallery@northwestern.edu or go to the Norris Center Web site at www.northwestern.edu/Norris/dittmar.html.

“The Feminine Face of Fiber,” Jan. 6 to Feb. 13, Dittmar Memorial Gallery. This exhibition will explore the multiple facets of femininity present in the work of Chicago-area fiber artists Barbara Wynn Bansley and Kathy Weaver. Bansley’s installation “the blue of her past, the perfect shade of BLUE,” is comprised of 22 indigo-dyed pulp paintings depicting homes of women on her Beverly neighborhood block who were influential as she raised her 12 children. A different style chair is positioned directly in front of each house painting. Displayed atop each chair seat is a hand bound book of quotes and a narrative about the woman who lives there, her family and the personality and warmth emanating therein. The interactive nature of the installation creates an air of “private” domesticity within the anonymity of the public exhibition space.

Highland Park artist Kathy Weaver’s quilted collages lead the viewer to the mysterious and sometimes dark side of human nature. Weaver uses the quilt medium and the robot persona in her “Female Cyborg Series” to invite the viewer into a complex and intriguing alternative world. As a child of the 1950s living amidst today’s technological modernity, for Weaver, the robot represents a potential ranging from an ambiguously “friendly future” to a literal integration of robot into the human body. In her seven handcrafted large-scale pieces, the viewer is invited into the picture plane to see the drama of the robot’s personality as it reflects the complexity of human nature. An opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, is free and open to the public.