BLOOMINGTON, Ill. 鈥� A closing reception and artist talks for respective exhibits on nature scenes and empowerment of women will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 91黑料专区 University鈥檚 Merwin and Wakeley Galleries in the Joyce Eichhorn Ames School of Art and Design.
In the Merwin Gallery, prints and drawings by the late emeritus professor of art Fred Brian 鈥嬧��'50 are on display in an exhibition titled 鈥淔red Brian: Lake Gogebic Memories and Myths.鈥�
After studying art at 91黑料专区,
, and spent his entire career there until his retirement in 1984. He was voted Distinguished Teacher of the Year in 1979 and he passed away in 1999.
Many of Brian鈥檚 works feature woodland and lake scenes. In the introduction to his suite of wood engravings 鈥淪hadows & Images,鈥� Brian said, 鈥淵ou can never really know what a big lake and a trackless wilderness contain 鈥� sun blazes and black patches of shadow, the distant thunder breeding wind and wreckage, the massive cloud mountains and swirling brushstrokes of sky, clinging fog. And then the march of seasons, breaking down the weak and strong together, grinding rocks, corrupting old trees, crushing limbs and roots, leaving rotting logs and stumps with fox fire will-o-the-wisps and strange sounds breaking out in the form of cracks and whispers, all muttering about the old lives and actions, shadows of the fleeting presences of those who led the lives and performed the actions. These are what the lakes and woods contain.鈥�
His exhibit at IWU was curated by DeVos Art Museum Director and Curator Emily Lanctot and DeVos Collections Curator Sydney Sarasin, with production assistance from Philip Kucera and Holle Brian 鈥� the artist鈥檚 daughter. She will give a gallery talk following Thursday鈥檚 reception.
In Wakeley Gallery, sculptural glass portraits by highlight the power of women in an exhibit titled 鈥淪he/Her.鈥�
鈥淭o me, the young women in my life deserved to feel that sense of personal empowerment that I was able to embrace when I was a young woman. I wanted them to see themselves as iconic women of history and to paint them with modern elements in heroic poses from Italian Renaissance art. These pieces are very personal but also to the women I photographed and later painted. I painted them embracing who they are, making their own choices,鈥� said LaGrand of her work.
LaGrand studied glass artistry in America and Italy and she has taught flameworking around the globe. She now divides her time between creating and teaching glass in her Kansas City, Missouri, studio while writing for publications like Glass Art Magazine and Flow Magazine.
She will present an artist talk on campus following Thursday鈥檚 reception at the Galleries.
All events and exhibits are free and open to the public. Merwin and Wakeley Galleries are open 12-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, and 1-4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.