Great art, of course, can speak for itself, but like any other social activity, it can also spur strong opinions, heated debate and intellectual illumination.
This fall, the Washington University Gallery of Art will present a series of special Friday evening events — including films, lectures, tours, concerts and artists’ talks — designed to compliment its two fall exhibitions, Influence 150: 150 Years of Shaping a City, a Nation, the World and Inscriptions of Time/Topographies of History: The Photographs of Alan Cohen.
All events begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted (see below for complete schedule). The Gallery of Art is located in Steinberg Hall, near the intersection of Forsyth and Skinker boulevards. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays; and noon to 4:30 p.m. weekends. (The Gallery of Art is closed Mondays.) For more information, call (314) 935-5490.
Fall highlights include:
• Friday Forum series: Gallery of Art director Mark S. Weil and curator Sabine Eckmann on Collecting Patterns; The History of the Washington University Gallery of Art (Oct. 10). Lutz Koepnick, guest-curator of Inscriptions of Time, hosts a discussion with photographer Alan Cohen (Nov. 14). Both talks are preceded by receptions at 6:30 p.m. Cost, which includes wine and appetizers, is $10 each, or $15 for both events. Space is limited. For more information, call (314) 935-5490 or email wuga@aismail.wustl.edu.
• Lectures: An evening with comic book artists Charles Burns and Gary Panter (Saturday, Sept. 27). Architectural historian Iain Boyd Whyte on Expressionist Architecture (Thursday, Oct. 2). Stephen Murray, director of Columbia University’s Visual Media Center, on The Digital Cathedral: New Media and the Spaces of Medieval Architecture (6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18.)
• Film: In July (2000), directed by Fatih Akin (Sept. 19); Lone Star (1996), directed by John Sayles (Oct. 17). Please note: In July will be shown in Brown Hall, Room 100 located a short walk west of the Washington University Gallery of Art.
• Music: Borders and Boundaries in 20th Century Music (Oct. 24). Performers include Silvian Iticovici (violin), Paul Garritson (clarinet); and Jared Hartt, Maryse Carlin and Seth Carlin (piano). 19th and 20th Century Popular American Song (Nov. 7).
• Tours: Docent-led exhibition tours (Sept. 12, Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Oct. 31, Nov. 21.).
FALL 2003 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
All events take place at the Washington University Gallery of Art and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
September 5 • 5:30-8 p.m.
Public Exhibition Opening Reception
Influence 150: 150 Years of Shaping a City, a Nation, the World
Inscriptions of Time/Topographies of History: The Photographs of Alan Cohen
Both exhibitions through Dec. 7.
September 12 • 7 p.m. • Tour
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.
September 14 • 11-4 p.m.
The Washington University 150th Birthday Party
The Gallery of Art hosts a series of all day events as part of the university-wide Sesquicentennial birthday celebration. Stop in to enjoy a variety of art, history, music, and cinematic fun.
Faculty from the Department of Art History and Archaeology talk about their favorite works of art from the permanent collection in a series of Object Lessons.
11-11:40 a.m. 19th-Century Art with Professor Elizabeth Childs
12-12:40 p.m. Dutch Art with Professor Paul Crenshaw
1-1:40 p.m. American Art with Professor Angela Miller
2-2:40 p.m. Contemporary Art with Professor Rebecca DeRoo
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Stop in to hear talented young musicians in a student piano recital coordinated by Seth Carlin, Professor of Music.
1:45-2:30 p.m.
Premiere viewing of the video Milestones: Moments from the First 150 years at Washington University in St. Louis. Presented by Robert Virgil, University trustee, former dean of the Olin School of Business, and chairperson of the Sesquicentennial Commission.
2:45-4:00 p.m.
A special screening of silent films with piano accompaniment presented by Jeff Smith, Professor of Film & Media Studies. Featured films include Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Junior (1924) and an early student-produced film The Maid of McMillan (1916).
September 19 • 7 p.m.
Film screening, In July (2000; 100 mins)
In July takes viewers on a ragged road trip from Hamburg, Germany, through Austria, Hungary and Romania with a final stop in Istanbul, Turkey. Directed by German-born Turk Fatih Akin, the film is a vibrantly photographed journey set against the decidedly multicultural backdrop of Central and Eastern Europe, in which unrequited love a stolen passport and five different countries and languages play the leads. In July has been called a “love letter to a benign and beguiling vision of Europe” (A.O. Scott, The New York Times). In German with English subtitles.
Please note: In July will be shown in Brown Hall, Room 100 located a short walk west of the Washington University Gallery of Art.
September 26 • 7 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.
September 27 • 7 p.m.
An Evening with Comic Artists Charles Burns and Gary Panter
A joint lecture by internationally acclaimed avant-garde cartoonists Charles Burns and Gary Panter. Charles Burns gained prominence in the early 1980s for his work in the experimental anthology Raw. His ongoing comic series Black Hole explores the nightmarish undercurrents of teen angst. In the 1970s, Gary Panter created the seminal cartoon art of the punk movement for the Los Angeles-based magazine Slash and later designed sets for the television show Pee Wee’s Playhouse. His most recent comic project is a richly layered, pop-culture strewn interpretation of Dante’s Inferno. Both artists have had their work exhibited in numerous galleries and museums worldwide. This lecture is organized by the St. Louis Comic Art Show and co-sponsored by the Washington University School of Art, Gallery of Art, and the Department of Art History and Archaeology.
October 2 • 7 p.m.
Iain Boyd Whyte
Expressionist Architecture
Distinguished scholar Iain Boyd Whyte discusses the work of the German modernist architect Bruno Taut. Whyte is a Professor of Architectural History, University of Edinburgh and is currently a Senior Visiting Program Officer for the Getty Grant Program. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Art History and Archaeology and the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.
October 3 • 7 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.
October 10 • 6:30 p.m .(reception), 7 pm (program)
Friday Forum (1 of 2)
Collecting Patterns: The History of the Washington University Gallery of Art
Have you ever wondered why or how certain works of art enter a museum collection? What might works of art say about a collector, curator, or larger cultural issues of taste and connoisseurship? Join Mark Weil, Director and Sabine Eckmann, Curator as they discuss these issues in relation to works in the Washington University Gallery of Art, which has actively been collecting since its founding in 1881.
$10 each/$15 series of two (students $5 each/$7 series); includes beverages and appetizers
October 17 • 7p.m.
Film Screening, Lone Star (1996, 138 mins)
Often cited as one of the finest films by director John Sayles, Lone Star is a multi-layered and beautifully told tale about crossing physical and psychological borders, challenging the past and escaping the burden of history. The film takes place in the sleepy border town of Frontera, Texas where present-day residents collide with their personal and collective histories. Described as equal parts Western, murder mystery, and romance, Lone Star is a deeply satisfying exploration of how history can never stay in the past. Opening remarks will be made by Lutz Koepnick, Professor of Germanic Languages & Literatures and Film & Media Studies. The film is shown in conjunction with the exhibition Inscriptions of History/Topographies of Time: The Photographs of Alan Cohen curated by Koepnick.
October 24 • 7 p.m.
Concert, Borders & Boundaries in 20th Century Music
The Department of Music presents a concert touching on some of the themes explored in the exhibition Inscriptions of History/Topographies of Time: The Photographs of Alan Cohen. The program will include Contrasts by Bartók, Visions fugitives by Prokofiev, and Gazebo Dances by John Corigliano. Performers will include Silvian Iticovici (violin), Paul Garritson (clarinet), and Jared Hartt, Maryse Carlin, and Seth Carlin (piano).
October 31 • 7 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.
November 7 • 7 p.m.
Concert, 19th and 20th Century Popular American Song
Did you know the Gaylord Music Library at Washington University contains over 40,000 examples of American sheet music? The Department of Music brings a bit of this archive to the Gallery of Art for an evening of popular song in honor of the University’s sesquicentennial. Songs dating from as far back as 1853 will be performed as well as several from the 1902 stage production of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (music by Paul Tietjens) first performed in Chicago.
November 14 • 6:30 p.m .(reception), 7 p.m. (program)
Friday Forum (2 of 2)
Inscriptions of History/Topographies of Time: The Photographs of Alan Cohen
Lutz Koepnick, guest curator and associate professor of Germanic Languages & Literatures and Film & Media Studies, welcomes photographer Alan Cohen to talk about the current exhibition of his work. Over the last decade the Chicago-based artist has traveled the world with his camera largely pointed downward, documenting the stone, brick, concrete, and dirt on sites that have witnessed traumatic events from war to natural disasters. His work does not reveal that traumatic history so much as raise questions about the nature of the past and how we come to experience it in the present.
$10 each/$15 series of two (students $5 each/$7 series); includes beverages and appetizers
November 18 • 6 p.m.
Stephen Murray
The Digital Cathedral: New Media and the Spaces of Medieval Architecture
Stephen Murray, Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology and the Director of the Visual Media Center both at Columbia University will present a lecture on his recent work. He is a specialist in Romanesque and Gothic art with a particular interest in understanding art and architecture within a broader framework of economic and cultural history. He is currently engaged in projecting his cathedral studies through electronic media using a combination of three-dimensional simulation, digital imaging, and video. His publications include books and articles on the cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais and Troyes. The lecture is sponsored by the Washington University Libraries and the Sam Fox Arts Center.
November 21 • 7 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.
November 27-28
Closed for the Thanksgiving holiday
December 5 • 7 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour
Tour of current exhibitions led by Washington University student docents.