The Fall Faculty Exhibition presents an opportunity to view recent work by Colby College faculty members Bonnie Bishop, Bevin Engman, Gary Green, Maggie Libby, Harriett Matthews, Abbott Meader, Nancy Meader, Garry Mitchell, Scott Reed, and Barbara Sullivan.
Hiraki Sawa
Migration, 2003
Still from single-channel video (7:10). Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York
Hiraki Sawa
November 6, 2008 - January 25, 2009
THEATER GALLERY
This exhibition presents three videos by the London-based, Japanese-born artist Hiraki Sawa. At once playful and meditative, Sawa’s works show imaginary, often miniaturized worlds animated by such seemingly incongruous elements as airplanes aloft in an otherwise mundane apartment, running and walking figures that evoke the early photographic movement studies of Eadweard Muybridge, and the shadowy silhouettes of animals placidly but persistently en route to somewhere else.
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)
Study (Maud Franklin), 1878
Lithograph, 10 5/8 x 8 1/16" The Lunder Collection
Whistler & the Figure: Prints from the Lunder Collection
November 1, 2008 - May 31, 2009
GOURLEY GALLERY
Curated by David Becker
Throughout his career, James McNeill Whistler was preoccupied with portraying the human figure. Though best known for his elegant and enigmatic oil portraits of society notables and – of course – his own mother, he also executed many smaller-scale figural works within the private space of his home and studio and the public spaces of city and countryside. This selection from the more than two hundred Whistler etchings and lithographs in the Lunder Collection focuses on the artist’s equally keen perception of the figure from near and far.
t s Beall
Landing Sequence from Predator UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), Iraq, 2004
Video still
Currents5: t s Beall
October 9, 2008 - February 1, 2009
DAVIS GALLERY
In the fifth installment of currents, an annual solo exhibition dedicated to the work of an emerging artist with connections to Maine, the Colby College Museum of Art presents Here Be Dragons (2008), a new video installation by t s Beall, an American artist living in Glasgow who attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2003. The exhibition consists of a single watchtower surmounted by a rotating platform outfitted with video projectors. From it, circular, scope-like video sequences of landscape imagery drawn from desolate outposts and contested areas are projected onto the walls of the gallery.
The Somali Bantu Experience: From East Africa to Maine
October 2, 2008 - November 16, 2008
TEACHING GALLERY
Curated by Catherine Besteman
The Somali Bantu are ethnic minorities forced to flee the civil war in Somalia. Some have resettled in Lewiston, Maine. Despite challenges, these refugees are finding ways to preserve their culture while adapting to life in America. Through photographs from both Somalia and Lewiston, come explore the stories of this extraordinary community.
For more information about the Somali Bantu community visit
Ivory, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 71.287, acquired by Henry Walters, 1922
Realms of Faith: Medieval Art from the Walters Art Museum
September 7, 2008 - January 4, 2009
UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
Curated by Véronique B. Plesch, Professor of Art and David L. Simon, Ellerton and Edith Jette Professor of Art
Drawn from one of the largest and finest medieval art collections in the United States, this exhibition of rare and beautiful objects dating from the sixth to the fifteenth century focuses on Christian liturgical practices and personal devotion during one of the most fascinating periods in world history. This exhibition was organized by The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
For a downloadable pdf of programs and events, click here.
Sturtevant Hamblen
Adelaide Endora Smith (later Mrs. Frederick E. Boothby), 1852
Oil on canvas, 38 x 28 3/4". Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George Putnam
Masterpieces of American Folk Art
June 29, 2008 - October 19, 2008
DE FERRARI GALLERY,GLADYS BROOKS FOUNDATION GALLERY,GOURLEY GALLERY,HEWLETT GALLERY,SAGE GALLERY
The occasion of the Maine Folk Art Trail—a statewide institutional collaboration exploring the treasure troves of traditional American folk art in Maine—provides an opportunity for the Colby College Museum of Art to present more than 50 objects from its remarkable collection of works done in the American vernacular tradition. The exhibition presents works in a variety of media that touch on the full range of folk subjects, including landscape, seascape, ship paintings and still life. An entire gallery of the exhibition will be devoted to the display of primitive portraits, many of which are drawn from the American Heritage Collection, given to Colby College by Edith and Ellerton M. Jetté.
Mixed media on paper, 12 x 9". Gift of the Alex Katz Foundation. Image courtesy of Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, and Siglio Press, Los Angeles
Joe Brainard: If Nancy Was
June 22, 2008 - August 17, 2008
UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
A visual artist and writer closely associated with the New York School of the 1960s and '70s, Joe Brainard invented variations on commercial images and artifacts that have become icons of Pop art. This exhibition presents 20 mixed-media works from Brainard's provocative If Nancy Was series, a recent gift of the Alex Katz Foundation. Taking the popular comic-book character Nancy as his muse, Brainard cast this loveable and enigmatic little girl in a variety of surprising roles, among them Nancy as a face on Mount Rushmore, as an old Kleenex, as a de Kooning “Woman” painting, and as a building in New York City.
James McNeill Whistler
Old Hungerford Bridge, 1861
Etching on paper, 5 9/16 x 8 3/8". The Lunder Collection
Whistler's Waterscapes: River, Sea, and Canal Views from the Lunder Collection
June 19, 2008 - October 26, 2008
THEATER GALLERY
Curated by David P. Becker
In its myriad forms, water has symbolized many things throughout history, from the endlessly flowing cycles of life to the hidden depths of the unconscious. Since ancient times, artists have been drawn to portray its atmospheric effects and elemental forces, as well as its cultural significance. This selection from the Lunder Collection of works by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) highlights a restlessly innovative artist's response to the theme of water. The prints range across his career, from London's Thames River and the English seacoast to the canals of Venice and Amsterdam.
Alex Katz
Ann Lauterbach, from Face of the Poet, 1978
Aquatint, 14 1/2 x 19". Gift of the artist
Face of the Poet: Alex Katz’s Poetry Collaborations, 1969–1978
June 13, 2008 - July 27, 2008
GALLERY
Taking its title from Alex Katz’s Face of the Poet (1978), a group of aquatint portraits of fourteen poets—including Ann Lauterbach, Kenneth Koch, and Peter Schjeldahl—this exhibition is a focused look at Katz’s early poetry collaborations, an ongoing aspect of his work. In addition to the Face of the Poet group, other works presented include Fragment, a book of poems by John Ashbery illustrated by Katz, a monumental painting of Allen Ginsberg, and various other print portraits and poetry books. Displayed in the museum’s Paul J. Schupf Wing, this exhibition has been organized in collaboration with the University of Maine, Orono, host of the National Poetry Foundation conference “The Poetry of the 1970s” from June 11–15.
Olafur Eliasson
Umschreibung (Rewriting) (detail), 2006
Photogravure prints on paper. Gift of Agnes Gund in honor of Gabriella De Ferrari
Together Anew: Recent Contemporary Acquisitions in Context
June 1, 2008 - August 17, 2008
DAVIS GALLERY,UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
Together Anew presents a selection of contemporary paintings, drawings, and prints recently acquired by the Colby College Museum of Art through the generosity of donors, alongside other selections from the collection. Stylistically diverse, the works in the exhibition epitomize the plurality of recent art production while suggesting a range of art historical alliances.
Sol LeWitt
Arcs from 4 Corners, 1986
Woodcut on paper, 21 1/2 x 23". Gift of Hugh J. Gourley III in honor of Gabriella De Ferrari, Commencement 2008
An Eye for the Here and Now: Selections from the Collection in Honor of Gabriella De Ferrari
May 23, 2008 - September 14, 2008
TEACHING GALLERY
Gabriella De Ferrari, a distinguished curator, art historian, and writer, served as the founding chair of the Colby College Museum of Art’s Board of Governors. She has also been instrumental in developing the museum’s contemporary collection, helping to establish a thriving program for the support and study of new art. In recognition of the honorary Doctor of Letters bestowed by Colby College upon Gabriella De Ferrari on May 25, 2008, this exhibition presents a selection of works that became part of the collection through her vision, guidance, and generosity.
Senior Studio Art majors
Off the Wall - Senior Art Exhibition, 2008
Photograph
Off the Wall - Senior Art Exhibition
May 8, 2008 - May 25, 2008
DAVIS GALLERY,UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
The 2008 Senior Art Exhibition presents artwork in a variety of media by Colby Studio Art majors Natalie Clay, Julia Deutsch, Eric Hansen, Catherine Jensen, Alyssa Lee, Angela Martinelli, Elizabeth Mortati, Sarah Parrish, Julia Stuebing, Kathryn Tom, and Kate Yedinak. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, May 8, from 4 to 6 pm.
Mitch Epstein
Biloxi, Mississippi (from American Power series), 2005
C-print, 45 x 58". Gift of Burt Silberstein '49 and museum purchase from the Jetté Acquisitions Fund. Image courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
The College Collection as Kunstkammer
May 2, 2008 - May 25, 2008
UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
Curated by Justine Ludwig '08
The Kunstkammer (art chamber), an exhibition space popular in the 16th through 18th centuries in Europe, allowed for the juxtaposition of cultures and time periods. Rather than organizing objects according to era, the display’s goal was an aesthetic conversation meant to reveal truths about the universe. This exhibition presents a range of works drawn from the permanent holdings of the Colby College Museum of Art in a manner reminiscent of Kunstkammern, and, in so doing, it explores the eclectic nature of the collection.
Chuck Close
Self-Portrait/Scribble/Etching Portfolio, 2000
Soft-ground etching, 18 1/4 x 15 1/4”. Final, signed, progressive proof. Printed by Pace Editions Ink. Published by Pace Editions, Inc., New York. Collection of Paul J. Schupf, Hamilton, New York
Chuck Close has been making self-portraits since the late 1960s. These efforts are invariably based on photographs that he makes of himself and famously translates into paintings, drawings, prints, and other media—typically a methodical, labor-intensive process. His investment in such processes forms the subject of his Self-Portrait/Scribble/Etching Portfolio, 2000, a set of twenty-five prints that illustrates the steps required to produce a single, twelve-color etching. It is also the focus of this exhibition, which uses that portfolio as a lens through which to examine the intersections and parallels that structure Close’s artistic ideas. Accompanied by a full-color catalogue featuring a new interview with the artist. Organized in conjunction with the Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University and The Mead Art Museum, Amherst College.
Robin Mandel
Storm, 2008
Mixed media installation
Storm
April 14, 2008 - May 18, 2008
THEATER GALLERY
During a recent one-week residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, Assistant Professor of Art Robin Mandel created computer-controlled kinetic mechanisms capable of producing viewer-activated thunder, lightning, wind, and rain simulations. Mandel's Storm, installed in the museum's Theater Gallery, brings these mechanisms together to create an electrifying thunderstorm.
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
Rhododendrons, Boston Public Gardens, 1899
Watercolor and pencil on paper, 14 1/16 x 20 3/4". The Joan Whitney Payson Collection at the Portland Museum of Art, Maine
Joan Whitney Payson Collection
February 17, 2008 - June 1, 2008
LUNDER WING
The Colby College Museum of Art presents seven world-class works of art from the Joan Whitney Payson Collection, on bi-annual loan from the Portland Museum of Art. This impressive collection includes paintings by Marc Chagall, Gustave Courbet, Edgar Degas, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Alfred Sisley.
Above image courtesy of the following: Susan Mary Alsop, Robert D. Barton and Nancy Hemenway Barton, Deborah and George Brett, Mrs. Howard S. Cowan, Mr. and Mrs. Charles W.H. Dodge, Leon Gorman, Mrs. Hugh G. Hallward, Austin and Ellen Higgins, Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. McCorkle, Elizabeth B. Noyce, John G. Ordway, Parker Poe Charitable Trust, Mrs. Jefferson Patterson, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Risley, Phineas W. Sprague Memorial Foundation, Mrs. Nicholas Strekalovsky, Mrs. Stuart Symington, UNUM Charitable Foundation, Friend of the Collection, five anonymous donors, and through funds generated by a gift from the estate of Francis and Marion Libby, 1991.61
Gary Green
Pleasant Point (View no. 1), Salmon Falls, Maine, 2006
Iris print on Somerset Satin paper, 47 x 35". Image courtesy of the artist
Gary Green
February 7, 2008 - March 23, 2008
TEACHING GALLERY,THEATER GALLERY
Gary Green joins the Colby College Art Department this year as professor of photography. Green's sensitive images of the common landscape draw connections between human nature and the natural world. His photographs of carved and weathered tree bark, like human skin, tell stories of manmade encounters and natural phenomena. Decaying houses, cleared lots, and bulldozed dirt piles reveal the forces and events that create the history of nature.
Adolph Gottlieb
Untitled, 1950
Ink and watercolor on paper, 19 x 24”. Gift of the Alex Katz Foundation
Adolph Gottlieb: Paintings and Early Prints
February 3, 2008 - April 13, 2008
UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) was an early member of the Abstract Expressionist movement and an intensely productive painter, printmaker, and sculptor who created an immense body of work during his 50-year career. Primarily self-taught as a painter and printmaker, Gottlieb aimed to synthesize an intellectual approach to painting with his own emotional experience. This exhibition, featuring a 1950 pictograph by the artist given to the Colby Museum by the Alex Katz Foundation, brings together 50 early prints and paintings, which demonstrate Gottlieb's significant contribution to the changing face of American art at mid-century.
Amy Stacey Curtis
sort II (detail), 2007
10,080 acrylic-painted wooden circles, 18 receptacles, 16 color keys, Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm, instructions, tape, audience, 45 x 14'. Photo: Alan LaVallee
currents4: Amy Stacey Curtis
December 15, 2007 - April 13, 2008
DAVIS GALLERY
Curated by Sharon Corwin, Carolyn Muzzy Director and Chief Curator
The fourth installment of the Museum's annual emerging- artist exhibition, currents, presents work by Maine-based installation artist Amy Stacey Curtis. Curtis, who has been working in abandoned industrial sites throughout the state for the past seven years, creates interactive works that examine our interconnectedness through themes of chaos, order, and repetition. For currents4, Curtis invites viewers to perceive, manipulate, and perpetuate her exploration of light and color.
James McNeill Whistler
Draped Figure, Reclining, 1892
Transfer lithograph on paper, 11 1/4 x 17 1/4". The Lunder Collection. Photo: Peter Siegel
Whistler at Work: The Process of Printmaking
December 3, 2007 - June 15, 2008
GOURLEY GALLERY
Curated by David P. Becker
Peter and Paula Lunder have assembled one of the foremost collections of prints by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), comprising more than 200 etchings and lithographs of the highest quality. The latest in a continuing series of exhibitions drawn from this collection not only serves as an overview of Whistler's printmaking career but also highlights a number of rare examples that reveal Whistler's working process. Important selections include examples of Whistler's trial proofs, three pairs of prints that show how the artist developed his images through successive printings from the same plate, and a rare pastel that illuminates how Whistler treated similar subjects in different media.
Robin Mandel
Suitcase, 2007
Mixed media. Image courtesy of the artist
Fall Faculty Exhibition
November 6, 2007 - January 20, 2008
UPPER JETTÉ GALLERIES
The Fall Faculty Exhibition presents an opportunity to view recent work by Colby College faculty members Bonnie Bishop, Bevin Engman, Gary Green, Maggie Libby, Robin Mandel, Abbott Meader, Nancy Meader, Garry Mitchell, Scott Reed, and Barbara Sullivan.
