Spring 2011
OPENSTUDIO
January 28 through April 3, 2011
In honor of its 50th anniversary, Krannert Art Museum presented OPENSTUDIO: a series of public programs in conjunction with artist residencies intended to forge interdisciplinary learning and cultural exchange between students, faculty, the community, and international visiting artists. Transforming the main exhibition gallery into a learning laboratory, visiting artists together with University of Illinois students and faculty inhabited and created active zones for viewing, discussion, and experimentation. Activities included artist-led discussion sessions and workshops, as well as public performances resulting from the artists' collaborations with the campus community. This direction introduced a new development in the activities of the museum, transforming it into a space for experimental art and exhibition-making.
Sponsored by the Frances P. Rohlen Visiting Artist Series
The Speaker Project
January 28 through April 3, 2011
Curator: Tumelo Mosaka
Made from found materials such as old billboard signs, wood panel siding, and traffic cones, Chicago-based artist Juan Angel Chávez presented this large sculpture that also functions as a performance stage for bands and DJ's. During the exhibition, a variety of music and sound performances were scheduled.
Image credit: Juan Angel Chávez, Speaker Project, 2006, Mixed media installation © Juan Angel Chávez
Artists-in-Residences
Marlon Griffith
From Trinidad, Marlon Griffith draws inspiration
for his art from carnival traditions and the
surrounding environment. Working between
performance, sculpture, and installation, he
emphasizes both spatial and color relation-
ships within a given space and time, while
also choreographing movement to express
mood. He has participated in international
shows throughout the world, including New
York, Johannesburg, Kingston, Gwangju,
Cape Town, Toronto, and others.
February 17–5:30–8 pm
Artist Performance and Gallery Conversation
with Marlon Griffith
Marlon Griffith, Gwanju Biennale, 2008, Photo: Akiko Ota
Nora Chipaumire
A self-exiled artist born in Zimbabwe and now
based in New York, Chipaumire explores the
impact of colonialism on contemporary African
lives. She creates provocative and politically
charged multimedia dance performances that
reference human struggles across the globe.
Her work is inspired by historical events from
her native country and presents the condition
of living between places. Chipaumire employs
dance to both examine and breakdown cultural
barriers that limit self-definition.
March 17–6–9 pm
Film screening of NORA (USA/Zimbabwe/UK), directed by Alla Kraprov and David Hinton, Artist Performance, and Gallery Conversation with Nora Chipaumire, OPENSTUDIO artist-in-residence and Alla Kaprov
Image credit: Nora Chipaumire, Photo: Don Rock
Additional Exhibition Programming
February 2–9 am–5 pm
8 ° of arc, a sound and light installation featuring ambient, avant world music composed by Jason Finkelman in conjunction with seanmurphyLIGHTS, Inc.
February 4–5–7 pm
Inside Out Fridays featuring music by Jason Finkelman and Johnny Ridenour and a South Indian classical dance performance by Subhalakshmi Kumar
March 11–5–7 pm
Inside Out Fridays featuring Compost Q
April 1–5–7 pm
Inside Out Fridays featuring the Robert E. Brown Center for World Music and the Ka Melia Hawaii Club
March 6–3 pm
Sonic Explorations for Two Saxophones, a performance by the Ogni Suono Saxophone Duo
April 3–3 pm
Now Now, a dance performance by Kirstie Simson and Tim O'Donnell
Building a Modern Collection: A Look Back
January 28 through May 1, 2011Curator: Kathryn Koca Polite
In honor of Krannert Art Museum’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, KAM focused on an installation of works that spoke to the strength of its permanent collection. The Contemporary American Painting exhibitions at the University of Illinois began in 1948 with the foresight of individuals who felt compelled to promote contemporary art as well as build a collection for the university. In 1953, sculpture was added and the exhibition series became known as the Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture exhibition (CAPS). These exhibitions aimed to showcase a stylistic cross-section of contemporary American paintings and sculpture and coincided with the campus-wide Festival of Contemporary Arts.
Building a Modern Collection: A Look Back included approximately 30 paintings and sculptures purchased from the CAPS exhibitions, as well as archival photographs and other printed material.
Image credit: Hans Hofmann, Apparition, 1947, Oil on reinforced plywood, Festival of Arts Purchase Fund 1950-6-1
Exhibition Programming
March 16–5 pm
Members' Night
Museum members were invited to enjoy a wine and cheese reception, experience a special viewing of the exhibition Building a Modern Collection: A Look Back, and hear first-hand accounts from those who were involved with the CAPS exhibitions. Guest speakers included Marcel Franciscono, professor emeritus of Art History; Jerome A. Savage, professor emeritus of Painting; Leo Segedin, UIUC art alumnus and professor emeritus, Northeastern University; and Winton Solberg, professor emeritus of History.
The Kangarok Epic
January 28 through May 15, 2011
Curator: Tumelo Mosaka The Kangarok Epic is a series of
performances from January 26–29
that resulted in large-scale, ephemeral
drawings that were created by the
Brooklyn-based collaborative team of
Mike Estabrook and Ernest Concepción,
known as The Shining Mantis. The act of
drawing became a public performance as
the artists drew with chalk directly onto the
wall. The drawings depicted epic battle
scenes between the fictitious mantids and
demonic kangaroos that once threatened
life, as we know it. Inspired by historical accounts of conflicts, these drawings employed fiction to explore violence and destruction of a world where only the strongest of creatures could survive.
Image credit: Mike Estabrook and Ernest Concepción (The Shining Mantis), The Kangarok Epic, 2011; Chalk and black paint on wall © Mike Estabrook and Ernest Concepción
iona rozeal brown
January 28 through May 15, 2011
Curator: Tumelo Mosaka
iona rozeal brown's works examine ways
that Japanese society has appropriated
African American hip-hop culture. While
spending time in Japan, the artist began
exploring early Japanese ukiyo-e wood-
block prints and became interested in
popular Japanese youth culture known as
Ganguro (literally "black face"). This trend
involved Japanese teenagers imitating hip-
hop idols by dressing in casual baggy clothes, weaving their hair into cornrows, and darkening their skin at tanning salons or with makeup. This exhibition included three paintings from her a3 Afro-Asiatic Allegory series. They visually blended Japanese and African American culture and explored such, issues as minstrelsy and consumerism.
Image credit: iona rozeal brown, a3 blackface #68, 2003; Acrylic on paper; Courtesy of David Rhodes © iona rozeal brown
Astral Convertible Stage Set
January 28 through December 30, 2011
Astral Convertible was a 1989 dance
piece by the famous choreographer
Trisha Brown, with costumes and the
original set designed by the artist
Robert Rauschenberg. The set
consisted of eight interactive light and
sound towers that responded to the
motion of the dancers.
Faculty from the U of I Departments of
Dance and Theater and from the National
Center for Supercomputing Applications
(NCSA), reimagined the set and rebuilt it
for the 21st century, as part of the 2010
February Dance restaging of Astral Convertible held at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. New technologies such as wireless communication systems, remote control music players, and advanced projection surface plastics were incorporated into U of I artists' reinterpretation of this classic dance set and score. This installation, conceived by John Toenjes, associate professor of Dance, also included documentary material relating to these past performances.
Image credit: Rehearsal for Astral Convertible, 2010; Photo: Krannert Center for Performing Arts
School of Art + Design Master of Fine Arts
April 16 through May 1, 2011
This annual exhibition represents the culmination of intense artistic development for
graduate students in studio art and design. Marking a meaningful step further into the art world, the exhibition highlighted and celebrated the artists' exceptional creativity, curiosity, and inventiveness.
Sponsored by John and Alice Pfeffer; Image credit: Installation view, 2010
School of Art + Design Bachelor of Fine Arts
May 8 through 15, 2011
In this annual exhibition, BFA graduates presented a range of art and design studio practices that illustrate new and established technologies in material and virtual realms. The exhibition gave public form to an undergraduate curriculum committed to the arts as both a distinct and necessary approach to understanding, as well as an expression of diverse human experiences.
Sponsored by John and Alice Pfeffer
Petals & Paintings
April 8 through April 10, 2011
This annual two-day exhibition and museum
fundraiser featured innovative floral displays
created by award-winning floral designers from
across the Midwest. The floral arrangements
were in response to works in KAM's permanent
collection. The exhibition was curated by
Rick Orr, a member of the American Institute
of Floral Designers.