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Art Blog

Art exhibition, services and events in the Frederick and Kazuko Harris Fine Arts Library

Carolyn Cole, Pulitzer Prize winner & former Ohio University graduate student, to speak this week

May 18th, 2009

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Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Carolyn Cole will be discussing her career during a visit to Ohio University.

She is speaking Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in 135 Walter Hall.

The event is sponsored by the student chapter of the National Press Photographers Association Ohio University (NPPAOU) and the School of Visual Communication. It is free and open to the public. There will be posters featuring her work for sale.

Cole is a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times, where she has spent fifteen years covering national and international news. Her coverage of the civil crisis in Liberia won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography.

Cole is a two-time winner of the Robert Capa Gold Medal for war photography from the Overseas Press Club of America for her work in Iraq and Liberia (2003) and her photographs of the siege of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem (2002). She has earned four World Press photo awards and was named newspaper photographer of the year four times.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas. Cole is a former Ohio University graduate student.

The Herman Leonard Years at Ohio University

May 7th, 2009

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Herman Leonard, a 1947 BFA graduate and world-renowned photographer whose images captured the history and movement of jazz, will speak at Ohio University’s two under-graduate commencement ceremonies this year.

As an undergrad, Mr. Leonard was a photographer, and eventually photo editor for the Athena Yearbook.

His yearbooks and a selection of period photography equipment are on view in the Fine Arts Library, Alden, 3rd floor, through the summer.

Yao Ceremonial Artifacts Collection

April 7th, 2009

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An exhibit of the Yao Collection is now on view at the Multicultural Center Gallery in Baker Center. The Opening Reception will take place during Ohio University’s International Week, on Thursday, May 14th, from 5 to 7pm.

A gift from Frederick Harris (Hon. PhD, 1997) and collecting partners Robert Fallon (BA, 1969), and Ms. Nguyen Thi Diu, this one-of-a-kind cultural record supports the scholarly research and teaching needs of various programs and departments campus-wide. With approximately 2000 pieces of ceremonial and temple art from the north of Viet Nam, this collection is likely the largest of it’s kind.

Later in 2009, a significant portion of the collection will be available online via ARTstor, an online image database. Find a link to ARTstor in Alice, find the Yao page with an informative slide show here.

Designers ABC Primer

February 27th, 2009

ABC Primer

A Designer’s ABC Primer makes reference to both the classic didactic ABC books and to the L’abecedaire of Gilles Deleuze, indicating a general theme but not a specific format.

Using the collection of the Frederick and Kazuko Harris Art Library as a primary research tool, the students of the Graphic Design Area class of 2010 were given an assignment to randomly browse the library stacks in order to find interesting professional designers or design firms with names beginning from A to Z. Each student’s list of designers was documented in both written and visual form. When the list was complete, each student designed and produced a single copy full color hand-bound book.

The books produced include lists of individual designers, design firms, typographers and corporate branding. These books will be on view in the Fine Arts gallery space through spring quarter 2009, with an opening reception April 8th, from 4 to 5:30pm.

Betty LaDuke, an Artist’s Journey

February 27th, 2009

Dreaming Home

As part of the 10-year anniversary celebration of the Institute of the African Child, part of Ohio University’s Center for International Studies, artist Betty LaDuke will exhibit her paintings at Alden Library, Fine Arts gallery space, from March 3rd through April 20, 2009.

“An upbeat, contemporary view of African life emerges in LaDuke’s paintings, drawings and etchings. Inspired by ten years of travel in Africa, her images reflect war zone life and camps for internally displaced people. The exhibit depicts survival conditions in the camps, as well as people’s spirit of community, their resilience and their dreams of returning home.”

For more information on the artist, visit her web site:
www.bettyladuke.com

Iran: Past and Present

February 3rd, 2009
carpet

carpet

Sponsored by People for Peace and Justice, and the Frederick & Kazuko Harris Art Library.

People for Peace & Justice is an organization of Athens area residents who believe there are genuine alternatives to war as well as ways to promote justice and accord between people both here and abroad.

This exhibit provides a glimpse into the Iranian culture, by way of a selection of antique and contemporary cultural objects. On view in the Art Library through Winter Quarter, 2009.

Images of Sao Paulo

January 13th, 2009

Frank Norton

Frank Norton has been traveling to and capturing Brazil on film since 1980. Frank tries to capture his passion for Brazil through images of its people and locales. This exhibit offers a glimpse into the daily culture and environment of the city of São Paulo, and the coast of São Paulo State. On view in the Learning Commons at Alden Library through winter quarter.

For a copy of the exhibit brochure, click here.

The Great Wall of China

January 8th, 2009

Photographs by Tieliang Zhang

In these photographs, experience the grandeur and magnificence of a part of the Great Wall at Jiankou, a mountainous suburb less than 100 miles northwest of Beijing. The Jiankou portion of the Great Wall was initially built in the fifteenth-century in the early Ming Dynasty. Also see other portions of the wall in Jinshanling, built at about the same time. The Great Wall and it’s famous gate towers yield excellent photographic opportunities, as its breath-taking beauty changes over the different seasons.

On view at the Frederick and & Kazuko Harris Art Library, 3rd floor Alden, Jan. 9th through winter quarter.

Faculty/Student Art Exhibition

September 17th, 2008

In conjunction with the Fine Arts Library Re-Opening Arts Celebration, there are a number of works on view throughout the Fine Arts space. The work represents various disciplines, and is presented in a variety of formats and materials. The exhibit will be on view through fall quarter, 2008.

Fine Arts Library — Re-Opening Arts Celebration

September 13th, 2008

The Frederick and Kazuko Harris Art Library has moved! We’re still on the third floor of Alden Library, our service desk and collection have moved to the north side. The new stacks arrangement facilitates easier access. The computer cluster has been increased to 32 work stations, including 2 large format scanners. The periodicals collection has been given greater visibility and a larger space. Two print stations eliminate the need to walk far for your print jobs. In addition, the old stacks area is now a large reading room and quiet study space.

Library staff are available Sunday through Wednesday, 8am to 9pm, and 8 to 5 Thursday and Friday. Knowledgeable student assistants are always on hand.

The Art of the Slipcase

April 28th, 2008

Slipcase detailThe history of the non-attached book cover stretches back to ancient cultures, such as the Sumerians, Greeks and Romans. The desire to protect and keep the written word began with the advent of writing itself.
The four most common types of book cover today are the slipcase, the clam shell, pull off case, and the four-fold wrapper.
The use of protective slipcases extends also to CD’s and DVDs; instead of the more
common jewel cases or DVD keep case, they may be chosen for aesthetic reasons, and also to convey information regarding contents.

On view in the Fine Arts Reading Room through June.

Tragedy of a Liberated Desk

October 31st, 2007

desk

Plant Biology major Christine Leistner explores the confluence of art and the natural world in her exhibit titled “The Tragedy of a Liberated Desk”, a story of how a desk escapes its fate and is liberated from the office.

Christine explains that “the desk goes through all the seasons of a year experiencing the continuum of the life/death/life cycles of the universe. Every ending brings with it a new beginning.”

On view through December 2007, in the Fine Arts reading room.

Jim LoScalzo book launch & lecture

October 15th, 2007

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Jim LoScalzo is a photographer for US News and World Report and the author of “Evidence Of My Existence“, recently published by the Ohio Univesity Press in association with the Ohio University School of Visual Communication and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Mr. LoScalzo will be lecturing October 23rd at 7:30 in Scripps Hall. See an exhibit of his work in the Fine Arts Library, main reading area. The exhibit will remain on view through October, 2007.

Go to the OU Press website for a video synpsis.

VR services offered in the Art Library!

September 8th, 2007

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Campus VR needs are being served from Alden Library. Digital imaging is available for faculty and graduate students, in support of research and instruction. Select books or slides, your own or library materials, then download and print this VR Request Kit available also in the Fine Arts Library. It must accompany all imaging requests.

Japan, 1945

September 6th, 2007

What is it like to see a post-war culture through the lens of a camera? What would a young GI document in late 1945 Japan?


Pause While Sweeping

On display at the Alden Library 4th floor Leisure reading area, through the month of September, is a collection of black and white photographs by the late Cliff McCarthy. McCarthy was a long-time professor at the Ohio University School of Art. This collection of images has been donated to the University by his wife Arline McCarthy. Subsequently, the photographs will find their way back to Japan and become a part of the permanent collection at Chubu University in Kasugai, Japan, our sister university.

Over 60 years have passed since these images were taken by McCarthy in and around Tokyo. At the time, McCarthy was an Air Force Sgt. As a way of passing time before his return to the United States, he borrowed a Speed Graphic camera from his 36th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and explored his surroundings. In this exhibition you will find images of contrast and beauty within a society in transition.

Co-curated by Gary Ginther & Margarita Vasquez

“Companionship”

May 16th, 2007

Companionship

Senior painting major, David Hausman has created a nearly forty-foot long installation in the Alden Library stair tower: “My idea for the shape revolved around keeping you company as it follows you up or down the stairs.”

The project was funded, in part, by a Dean’s Undergraduate Creative Research Award and will be on view through September 2007.

Dogs in Art

April 30th, 2007


A Warm Response

Guest curator: Sonja Caldwell

“Dogs are a common and welcome site in art, particularly in Western art, but in art from many cultures….Sometimes, dogs are used to represent certain traits, like loyalty or fidelity, but just as often, it is for the joy that dogs bring to the canvas, or work….

Some of the greatest artists of our time have painted dogs, and these works capture the quintessential nature of the dog: loyal, pure of spirit, loving, and exuberant.”—Hollye Davidson

An Encounter Between East and West

April 7th, 2007

Japanese Art from the Frederick and Kazuko Harris Art Collection

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The work of ceramist, Hiroe Hanazono is showcased in this sampling from the Harris Collection.

“The importance of food presentation and the notion of hospitality is the driving force in the planning and execution of my work….I have a great passion for food: eating, preparing, and creating the landscape that completes the experience of nourishing life.”
Hiroe Hanazono

Co-Curated by Gary Ginther & Margarita Vasquez

On view through spring quarter 2007.

Discourse and Paper

June 16th, 2006

What happens to art when it’s sole purpose is for pleasure?

Come see formalism and it’s enemy, post-modernism battle it out on the walls of the Fine Arts Library, 3rd floor Alden. A J Heckman’s paper installation combines interdisciplinary elements of language, poetry, art, paper, text, art history, and semiotics in an illuminating work which asks the questions few artists dare to ask: What has modernity done to art and what can be done to end it’s reign?

On view through September 2006.

A Serendipitous Adventure

May 12th, 2006

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Artist Jessica Brown transforms even more obscure spaces into built environments consisting of form, color, and scent. For a short time, her BFA Show: ‘Serendipitous Adventure’, took viewers on a tour of Alden Library. Each installation was tailored to the call number range in which it was built: horticulture of SE Asia, Mythology, and Metamorphesis.

In this manner, the library and the Library Of Congress system of classification actually become a part of the piece and contribute substantially to the meanings assigned to each part of it. The manner in which the installation is “discovered” resembles the way in which library resources are serrendipitiously discovered.

On view through May 19, 2006.