• Art Organization: Kemper Art Museum

Yve Alain-Bois to lecture at Kemper Art Museum

On Monday, November 9 at 6:30 pm, renowned art history scholar Yve-Alain Bois will lecture in Steinberg Auditorium, adjacent to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University. A specialist in 20th-century European and American art, Bois is recognized as an expert on a wide range of artists, from Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso to Piet Mondrian, Barnett Newman, and Ellsworth Kelly. His talk is titled “Chance Encounters: John Cage, François Morellet, Ellsworth Kelly.”

Bois has curated and co-curated numerous influential exhibitions, including Piet Mondrian, A Retrospective (1994-95); L’informe, mode d’emploi (1996); and Matisse and Picasso: A Gentle Rivalry (1999). His books include Matisse and Picasso (1998), for which he received the Alfred H. Barr award in 2001; Formless: A User’s Guide (with Rosalind Krauss, 1998); Painting as Model (1990); and Art Since 1900 (with Benjamin Buchloh, Hal Foster, and Rosalind Krauss, 2004). Bois is currently a faculty member at the School for Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.

The lecture is presented in conjunction with the special exhibition Chance Aesthetics now on view at the Kemper Art Museum, and is co-sponsored by the Department of Art History and Archaeology. The talk is free and open to the public, and will be preceded by a reception at 6 pm in Steinberg Hall.

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• Student Review: Jenna Stempel, Washington University

Lecture: “Collaborative Aesthetics”

When attending an artist’s lecture, it is perfectly reasonable to expect the artist not to give free hugs. Fortunately, nobody told Brett Cook about traditional lecture dynamics. Wednesday, March 18th, in his lecture entitled
“Collaborative Aesthetics: a Dialogue about Community and Soul” at Washington University, Cook hugged every participant who offered their definitions of “community” and “soul.”

The rest of the lecture was much of the same. After beginning with a breathing exercise in order to better assess the artwork, Brett Cook exhibited photos of traditional portraiture in the faculty club at Harvard University and a cow sculpture painted with Mondrian geometry in a West Indian neighborhood. He displayed artwork that he views as inaccessible to the public and irrelevant to the community. In contrast, Cook presented his own portfolio, which was increasing representative of the spaces in which each piece was displayed.

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• Student Review: Christy Nigh, Washington University

Fred Tomaselli Speaks

In honor of the re-dedication celebration of Steinberg Hall on Washington University’s campus, Fred Tomaselli gave a lecture about his life and work. Tomaselli had been asked to speak by his gallery owner James Cohan, an alumnus of Washington University.

Tomaselli began in school by studying painting, but felt that the pressure of its art historical lineage was more than he could live up to.  As a result, he spent several years exploring sculptural forms.  Several of his works became interactive pieces requiring the viewer to be an active participant in the work.  For example, in his piece, “Box for Your Head”, the viewer is required to insert their head into a hole, covered by the neck of a T-shirt, in a wooden box that is hung on the wall.  The viewer is rewarded for this action by a view of an alternate reality, outer space.

His talk framed his work within the context of his life-long experience and interests.

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• Art Organization: Chris Peimann, Sheldon Art Galleries

Sheldon Hosts Lunchtime Lecture in Architecture

The Sheldon will host a free lunchtime lecture in architecture with art historian and curator Carol Grove, Wednesday, March 25 from noon- 1 p.m. in the Bernoudy Gallery of Architecture.  Grove will discuss the current Sheldon Art Gallery exhibit, “Symbols of Collective Memory: A Photographic Survey of Missouri Courthouses,” on display at The Sheldon through May 30.  Visit The Sheldon’s website to learn more about the exhibition.

A special discounted lunch will be available at William Shakespeare’s Gastropub immediately following the lecture.

• Student Review: Elaine Chow, Washington University

Eero Saarinen - Opening Lecture

Run a Google search on “top skylines of the world” and you’ll be hard-pressed to find St. Louis anywhere on the list. Although St. Louis’ skyline isn’t much to brag about, one aspect we have that sets us apart from most other concrete jungles of America is the Saint Louis Gateway Arch, a 630 ft. tall steel structure built in the 1960s, and designed by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen.

I had the opportunity to attend the opening lecture for a two-month long exhibition at Washington University in St. Louis in honor of Eero Saarinen and the Arch.

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• Student Review: Marietta Alessi, Washington University

Get to Know Yuko

Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese born, New York illustrator who gave an entertaining and educational lecture in the Steinberg Auditorium at Washington University late Wednesday, February 18th. An illustrator with a love for saturated tones, texture, and dramatic figures, Yuko’s art has a complexity that is very intriguing. She once painted a ceramic rabbit with an intricate black and white pattern comprised of just dots. The bunny sold on Ebay for over a thousands dollars and the proceeds went to Save the Children Foundation. Other artworks she has done include: an evocative illustration for a sex story in New York Magazine where hundreds of couples were making love in the middle of a colorful Times Square, a chic aristocratic female lounging in ornate outfits for a Neiman Marcus advertisement, and an offbeat summer illustration of a wave rendered in a cable knit sweater pattern engulfing a swimmer as balls of yarn are tossed around for a Superphat magazine cover. Although her finished work  looks so polished, Yuko’s career path is almost as complicated as the patterns she creates.

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