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

April 20, 2004

May 2004 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 SPRING EXHIBITIONS

“MFA Thesis Exhibition from the Department of Art Theory and Practice,” through June 20, Alsdorf Gallery. This exhibition presents the work of graduate art students as they finish their intensive two-year program leading to a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree. This year’s exhibition features the realist paintings of Michael Ellis and David Gracie, abstract paintings by Alexander Herzog and Philip Vanderhyden, and Katrina Pycha’s multi-media installation. The Block Museum recognizes and celebrates their achievements as they prepare for professional careers. Support for the MFA Thesis Exhibition is provided by the Myers Foundations. (The exhibition opens April 16.)

“American Expressionism: Art and Social Change, 1920s-1950s,” through May 9, Main Gallery. This exhibition critically re-examines artists of early 20th century America and represents the blending of European and American sensibilities in an art that used the innovations of modernism to support those whose fortunes were crushed by circumstance, backbreaking labor or brutality of war. Organized by the Columbus Museum of Art and curated by Bram Dijkstra from his book “American Expressionism: Art and Social Change, 1920-1950” (Harry N. Abrams, 2003), the exhibition includes more than 70 paintings by such artists as Ivan Albright, Elaine de Kooning, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Franz Klein, Jacob Lawrence, Archibald Motley Jr. and Georgia O’Keeffe.

“Working Conditions: Depression-Era American Prints,” through May 9, Print, Drawing and Photography Study Center. This exhibition explores the conditions of urban industrial labor during the Great Depression. Drawn from the Block Museum’s collection of American prints from the 1930s and 1940s, it addresses some of the critical issues facing the working class, ranging from work hazards to the devastating impact of unemployment. Curated by Northwestern art history doctoral student Meredith TeGrotenhuis, this exhibition explores “how artists used stylistic and compositional devices to heighten the emotive effect of their subject matter, to elicit viewers’ empathy and to raise awareness of the relentless struggles of the working classes.”

“American Diorama: A Video Installation by Charles Woodman,” through May 9, Ellen Philips Katz and Howard C. Katz Gallery/Classroom. Charles Woodman’s five-channel video installation, “American Diorama,” follows a long tradition of representing the American landscape, from large-scale painting to panoramic photography. Shot on location across the United States, Woodman’s video is both a document of and a poetic response to the natural landscape, exercising the medium’s capacity to portray time, movement and space. Woodman has been working in the field of video art for more than 20 years.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, May 2, Woodman will collaborate with composer Stephen Syverud, associate professor of music studies at Northwestern, and Northwestern University School of Music students for a performance of improvised music in response to video images created by Woodman for this segment of the eight-hour-long New Music Marathon that begins at 2 p.m. at the Block Museum and concludes at 10 p.m. at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. For more information about venues and times, call Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at (847) 491-5441.

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 MUSEUM EXHIBITION TOURS

Exhibition Tours, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through May 9. Reservations are not required. To schedule a private or group tour for your organization or school, call the education department at (847) 491-4852.

BLOCK MUSEUM BENEFIT

“Auction Block,” 5 p.m. Thursday, May 20. Sotheby’s, the internationally known auction house, will conduct a benefit at the Block Museum, with live and silent auctions of original works on paper by artists that include Leonard Baskin, Jeanne Dunning, Robert Indiana, Ed Paschke, Ben Shahn and James Valerio. Proceeds will benefit the museum’s acquisitions, exhibitions and scholarships. The auctions will feature art created specifically for the benefit and prints donated to the museum for the specific purpose of sale to enhance the Block’s permanent collection and provide scholarships. Calihan Catering will provide a buffet supper. Admission is a $100 donation per guest. Call (847) 491-7540 for reservations.

SYMPOSIUM

“Cities in Focus: American Urban Photography Symposium,” 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 1. From 19th century photos to the cutting edge images found on the Internet today, this symposium will take a focused look at the photography of city environments. Participants include Colin Westerbeck, independent curator of photography; Pamela Bannos, photographer and senior lecturer of art theory and practice at Northwestern University; Peter Bacon Hales, professor of art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago; James Sanders, author, architect and director of the Center for Urban Experience; and Maren Stange, professor of American studies at The Cooper Union in New York. Admission is free; no reservations are required.

GALLERY TALK

MFA Gallery Talk, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Alsdorf Gallery. Northwestern University graduate art students featured in the “MFA Thesis Exhibition from the Department of Art Theory and Practice” will discuss their art works with the public. Admission is free.

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.html. The Sculpture Garden is open year-round. To arrange a free, docent-guided tour of the Sculpture Garden, call (847) 491-4852.

DITTMAR MEMORIAL GALLERY

Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. The gallery is open from 8 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.

Kevin Lyons, “Imagining Cuba,” photo exhibition, May 5 to June 6, Dittmar Memorial Gallery. In April 2002, artist Kevin Lyons made an official visit to Cuba. Nearly 50 years of a strained political relationship between the United States and Cuba has led most Americans to rely solely on their imaginations for an image of Cuban life. Intrigued by photographing people as they went about their lives and making the ordinary extraordinary, Lyons created images that transcend the mundane to both art and documentation. “Imagining Cuba” captures the essence of Cuban culture and grounds imagination into reality. An opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 13, is free and open to the public.