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NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtIONOpening september 5

FAll 2013/vol VII

wHAt’s INsIde:Notes from the directorPrint Making Revolution: Mexican Prints and the Taller de Gráfica PopularFall 2013 CalendarOn the road with trAVeXP.A.l. Project/Henninger Art Class: Voices Heard and Celebratedrecent Acquisitions: robert Birmelin

Exhibition/Education/collEction suart.syr.eduS y ra c u s e u n i v e rs i t y a r t G a l l e r i e s / S h a f fe r a r t b u i l d i n g / S y ra c u s e , n e w Yo r k 1 3 2 4 4

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

ART GALLERIES

the sUArt Galleries is presenting a series of exhibitions for the 2013-2014 academic

year that is truly international in scope. Beginning with Nyumba ya Sanaa: Works from

the Maryknoll Collection and A World Apart: Art from the Samuel T. Pees Collection, the

Galleries will also be presenting programming that is international in scope. Our sUArt

Film series selections and the speakers we are bringing to campus during the academic

year will also fit into our international theme.

In 2012, the syracuse University Art Galleries was chosen as a

repository for the Maryknoll Collection, a gift of the Maryknoll

sisters that included more than 170 original works of art by

twenty-two tanzanian artists. the collection contains artwork

created at Nyumba ya Sanaa (swahili for “House of Art”), a

community cultural center and art workshop located in dar es

salaam, tanzania. Founded in 1972 by sister Jean Pruitt and

the Maryknoll Order, Nyumba ya Sanaa’s (NYS) mission was to

support local artists, and to help them display and sell their

works, among other cultural activities. NYS also participated in

vocational training in the arts, including arts and crafts, fine art

paintings, sculpture and wood carving, modeling plaster and

cutting metal. Among alumni from the NYS school are world

famous artists George lilanga, robino Ntila, and Francis Patrick

Imanjama, each of whom were invited by numerous european

galleries to exhibit their works. through the years, Nyumba

ya Sanaa emerged not only as a school for artists, but also a

cultural attraction for tanzania that attracted dignitaries and

royalty, including Prince Charles of wales.

NOtes FrOM tHe dIreCtOr

Nyumba ya Sanaa: Works from the Maryknoll Collection will

introduce the Central New York community to tanzanian

artwork created in the last quarter of the 20th century.

the exhibition will present 90 pieces of original artwork

featuring a breadth of media including painting, sculpture

and printmaking, and highlight over a dozen artists. Also on

display in the Galleries will be artwork created by Henninger

High school students who have been inspired by the tanzanian

exhibition. this student display, Henninger Art Class: Voices

Heard and Celebrated is the result of community collaboration

between the sUArt Galleries, Henninger High school Art

teacher lori lizzio, and stephen Mahan of the Photography

and literacy (P.A.l.) Project.

Along with Nyumba ya Sanaa we will feature an exhibition of

international art that highlights work gifted to the University by

collector samuel t. Pees. A World Apart: Art from the Samuel

T. Pees Collection presents original artwork featuring a breadth

september 5 – October 20, 2013NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtION

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continued on 4

George lilanga, I Can Remember, 1977

cover:Phidelis Hassan Kamwona, untitled [Makonde, Hunger figure], c1990

domenic Iacono, director

tHe PAlItZ GAllerY/NYC

strange Victories: Grove Press 1951-1985NOVeMBer 18, 2013 – FeBrUArY 6, 2014the Palitz Gallery

taking its title from the film Strange Victory, which was

collaboratively produced by Barney rosset (who would

become the dominant force behind Grove Press) and the left-

wing documentary filmmaker leo Hurwitz after world war II,

this exhibition traces the history of America’s most notorious

publishing house.

From its role at the center of national censorship trials over Lady

Chatterley’s Lover to its publication of politically engaged works

such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as well as its avant-

garde and sometimes scandalous Film division, each of Grove’s

projects, the exhibition reveals, was in its own way a “strange

victory.” For while Grove altered the American literary landscape

and challenged existing notions of social mores, equality, and

freedom of expression, Grove also deployed savvy marketing

strategies seemingly at odds with its avant-garde values, became

embroiled in union battles, and floundered in its own successes.

Strange Victories: Grove Press 1951–1985 offers a glimpse into

the complicated story of Grove’s many literary and political

achievements, some of which continue to exert a profound

influence on American culture today.

reMBrANdt: the Consummate etcher and other 17th century PrintmakerssePteMBer 16 – NOVeMBer 14, 2013the Palitz Gallery

the syracuse University Art Galleries is proud to present

Rembrandt: The Consummate Etcher and Other 17th Century

Printmakers. this exhibition is a celebration of louise and

Bernard Palitz and their association with the syracuse

University Art Galleries. In the mid-1980s louise and Bernard

Palitz made their first gift to the syracuse University Art

Collection and over the next 25 years they became ardent

supporters of syracuse University and our arts programs.

About ten years ago they gave us funds to renovate the gallery

space at lubin House and established an endowment to help

it operate as an exciting venue for the University in New York

City. during its short existence the Palitz Gallery has presented

exhibitions that displayed the work of william Blake, James

whistler, Albert Maysles, winslow Homer, and of course, our

2008 landmark exhibition: Michelangelo: the Man and the Myth.

this display primarily utilizes the holdings of the syracuse

University Art Collection and explores the impact of one of

europe’s most important artists on the printmakers of his day.

this project, which grew out of a series of lectures for the Museum

studies Graduate class Curatorship and Connoisseurship of Prints,

demonstrates the value of a study collection as a teaching tool that

can extend outside the classroom.

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rembrandt Harmensz van rijn, Self Portrait Drawing at a Window, 1648

of media from oil and acrylic painting to relief printmaking

and dye batiks. the exhibition highlights over 20 artists, with

nationalities as diverse as Haitian, Paraguayan, Indonesian,

thai, Grand Cayman, and Malaysian. this is the first exhibition

to examine artwork in the Pees Collection since 1989.

In 1988, samuel Pees made a substantial gift of over 250

original pieces of artwork to the syracuse University Art

Collection, followed by another gift of additional artwork in

the mid-1990s. An alumnus of syracuse University, samuel

Pees earned his master’s degree in Geology in 1959. As a

professional consultant, Pees was able to travel frequently to

south America, latin America, Indonesia and the southeast. It

was during these travels that he actively acquired his collection

of artwork, which includes work by well-known artists tohny

Joesoef and Jacinto rivero.

these exhibitions will run september 5- October 20, 2013.

the permanent exhibition galleries will host exhibitions that

acknowledge our international theme. the Gallery of American

Art will present America’s Calling, a yearlong display of work

made by artists who relocated to the United states. these

immigrant artists have had a profound effect on how we view

the world and ourselves. the Print and Photography study

rooms will each display works from the collection that explore

the artwork, landscape and people of Japan.

In November our main exhibition will be Print Making

Revolution: Mexican Prints and the Taller de Gráfica Popular,

focusing on the work produced at that influential workshop

in Mexico City during the political and social unrest of the

post-Mexican revolution. these prints advanced a variety of

revolutionary ideals and causes, including the formation of

organized labor, the fight for civil rights, and an active campaign

against fascism.

Also on view in our second display period will be Paul strand’s

famous Mexican Portfolio, which includes photogravure

impressions of people, landscapes, architecture, and religious

objects that he encountered in Mexico during his travels there

in 1932. strand, like many of the artists who were making art

at the Taller de Gráfica Popular print studio, worked on these

photographs during the period when the post-revolution

government was trying to establish a modern national culture

that would capture Mexico’s unique character.

In 1967 Albert delong printed these photogravures from the

original plates under the supervision of the artist Paul strand

who was a passionate advocate for the medium. For this

portfolio of images strand asked the famous Mexican artist

david siquieros to write a preface for the project. In it siquieros

called strand’s images “the most objective art of our time.”

these exhibitions will open November 7, 2013 and run through

January 12, 2014.

the international year continues in the spring semester with

an exhibition from January 30- March 16, 2014 titled Mithila

Painting: The Evolution of an Art Form featuring a selection of

images made by women in the Mithila region of northern India.

rich in color and infused with vibrant forms these paintings

describe gods from the Hindu Pantheon and illustrate

indigenous stories both old and new.

we will also turn our attention to south Africa and the

contemporary art scene there. recent work by several

Johannesburg artists including william Kentridge, diane Victor

and others will be on view.

More to come about these exhibitions in our next newsletter.

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roechiyat, Before the Bharata Yudha War, 1973

November 7, 2013 – January 12, 2014PrINt MAKING reVOlUtION:Mexican Prints and the taller de Gráfica Popular

In Mexico City, during the political and social unrest of the post-Mexican revolution, the art of the print had an undeniable

impact on the everyday lives of the struggling people’s history and culture. this exhibition will introduce the Central New

York community to the important artists and artwork produced at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (the People’s Graphic

workshop), or TGP. Founded by leopoldo Méndez, luis Arenal and American born Pablo O’Higgins, this influential

workshop advanced a variety of revolutionary ideals and causes, including the formation of organized labor, the fight for

civil rights, and an active campaign against fascism.

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Angel Bracho, Victoria! Los Artistas de Taller de Grafica... ,1945. Courtesy of the University of New Mexico Art Museum

leopoldo Méndez, Homage to José Guadalupe Posada. Courtesy of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

CAleNdAr/eXHIBItIONs

sePteMBer 5 – OCtOBer 20, 2013Main GalleryOPeNING reCePtION: tHUrsdAY, sePteMBer 5, 20135:00–7:00 P.M.

NYUMBA YA sANAAwOrKs FrOM tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtIONthe study Gallery

A wOrld APArt: Art from the samuel t. Pees Collection

sePteMBer 16 – NOVeMBer 14, 2013the Palitz Gallery

reMBrANdt: the Consummate etcher17th CeNtUrY dUtCH PrINtMAKINGA leCtUre BY NAdINe OreNsteINCurator, department of drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art

OCtOBer 15, 2013 7:00 pmsyracuse University lubin House

NOVeMBer 18, 2013 – FeBrUArY 6, 2014the Palitz Gallery

strange Victories: Grove Press 1951-1985

NOVeMBer 7, 2013 – JANUArY 14, 2014Main Gallery OPeNING reCePtION: tHUrsdAY, NOVeMBer 14, 20135:00–7:00 P.M.

PrINt MAKING reVOlUtION:Mexican Prints and the taller de Gráfica Popular

PAUl strANd: the Mexican Portfolio

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sePteMBer 5, 2013 – MAY 11, 2014

the Photography study room

VIsIONs FOr sAle:Photographs of Nineteenth Century Japanthe Gallery of American Art

AMerICA’s CAllINGthe Print study room

UKIYO-e tO sHIN HANGA:Japanese woodcuts in the syracuse University Art Collection

Paul strand, Boy - Uruapan, 1933

unkown artist, [An actor in the dress of the feudal court], c1890

CAleNdAr/edUCAtION

lUNCHtIMe leCtUreswednesdays at 12:15

september 11Gallery tour: Nyumba Ya Sanaa with domenic Iacono

september 18Gallery tour: Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga with Andrew saluti

september 25Gallery tour: Visions For Sale with david Prince

October 2Gallery tour: A World Apart with domenic Iacono

October 9Gallery tour: America’s Calling with david Prince

October 16Gallery tour: Voices Heard and Celebrated with domenic Iacono

November 13Gallery tour: Print Making Revolution with Andrew saluti

November 20Gallery tour: The Mexican Portfolio with emily dittman

december 4From the Collection: Robert Birmelin with david Prince

FIlM serIesseCONd sUNdAYs BeGINNING IN OCtOBer2:00 P.M., shemin Auditorium, shaffer Art Building

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OCtOBer 13

Midnight in Paris2011, directed by woody Allen

NOVeMBer 10

Orozco: Man of Fire2007, directed by laurie Coyle

deCeMBer 8

Ai weiwei: Never sorry2012, directed by Alison Klayman

saturday, October 12 sunday, October 132:00 P.M.Nyumba ya Sanaa and A World Apart

saturday, November 16 sunday, November 172:00 P.M.Print Making Revolution

ON tHe rOAd/trAVeX

An American in Venice: James McNeill whistler and His legacy tHe ArKell MUseUM

2 erie Boulevard, Canajoharie, New York 13317

July 28 – October 20, 2013

this exhibit places eleven of James McNeill whistler’s Venetian

etchings alongside the work of followers who were practicing in

Italy in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. the

juxtaposition allows the viewer to appreciate both whistler’s

innovations and the different ways in which his work affected the

artists who followed him.

Karl schrag: Memories and PremonitionstHe elIZABetH MYers MItCHell GAllerY

st. John’s College

60 College Ave, Annapolis, Md 21404

August 28 – October 13, 2013

the art in Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions conveys the

artist’s ability to see the landscape as if for the first time, the

surprise of that special view, the recognition of his ability to

feel wonder when looking at nature or figure, and the reward

associated with seeing the world through his eyes.

Pure Photography: Pictorial and Modern Photographs from the syracuse University Art CollectionMArIANNA KIstler BeACH MUseUM OF Art

Kansas state University

Manhattan, Ks 66506

August 27 – November 24, 2013

As more individuals began using cameras, the idea grew that

photography could be a form of art in addition to a form of

documentation. this captured the attention of many artists, most

notably Alfred stieglitz, who formed the Photo secession and

helped establish Pictorialism.

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the syracuse University Art Galleries traveling exhibition

Program [trAVeX] has been offering affordable exhibitions

to museums and university art galleries for over twenty

years, generated from syracuse University’s encyclopedic art

collection and collaborating institutions.

leArN MOre / travex.syr.edu

Pressing Print: Universal limited Art editions 2000-2010tHOrNe - sAGeNdOrPH Art GAllerY

Keene state College

229 Main street, Keene, New Hampshire 03435

september 20 – december 8, 2013

Pressing Print chronicles the recent decade of artwork published by

the renowned American printmaking workshops, Universal limited

Art editions. the exhibition brings together new print works made

by the vanguards of 20th century American Art with the emerging

artists recently selected to collaborate at Universal.

the Artist revealed: Artist Portraits and self-PortraitsHeArst Art GAllerY

saint Mary’s College of California

1928 saint Mary’s road, Moraga, CA 94575

October 12 – december 15, 2013

An exhibition of fifty works in a variety of media that examine

self-portraits and portraits of other artists. Included in the show

are works by Milton Avery, Chuck Close, leonard Baskin, edward

steichen, Norman rockwell, and Anders Zorn.

Art in the detail: 20th Century Masters of PhotographywIdeNer UNIVersItY Art GAllerY

One University Place

Chester, PA 19013

November 9 – december 14, 2013

this exhibition of 30 photographs explores texture, light, and the

interplay of these qualities in the work of established and emerging

masters of photography.

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P.A.l. PrOJeCt/edUCAtIONHeNNINGer Art ClAss: VOICes HeArd ANd CeleBrAtedCOllABOrAtION tHrOUGH tHe MArYKNOll COlleCtION

this project enthralled my students from the beginning. they

connected to it through the story, the history, the artwork as

well as the project itself. the idea was to have my students

develop a personal connection to the exhibit’s artwork, and

create a piece of artwork reflecting that connection. we felt

inspiration could be found in documenting everyday life. they

used cameras to tell their stories and from those pictures, used

editing software to create artwork.

students were inspired by the exhibit’s artwork. they found

similarities and familiar relationships. Giving my students a

project that asked them to visually “speak” freely about their

life, friends, boyfriends, etc., was a very cathartic and rewarding

process. I enjoyed watching their artistic styles emerge and

their confidence grow with this opportunity. My students could

also appreciate the opportunity to participate, as it related to

the Maryknoll sisters giving people a place to create art when

there was no other opportunity to do so. this class is the only

opportunity that many of these students have to create as well.

Using other people’s artwork and finding personal connections

brings the common language of art into the classroom.

the students were able to see that all artists tell stories, in

many different ways. they felt that every voice is heard and

important. that was my favorite part of this project. My

students were so proud. so proud of the pictures that they

created and the process they went through to create them.

the excitement of participating in this exhibit and taking the

pictures, learning to edit them and using the technology to

create art really drove this project. they spent a lot of time

working on it, and had fun in the process. they were in great

dialogues about it beyond class time, as well as during class.

the artwork is an honest look at the voices of my students. the

collection tells their stories, in more layers than I think they

realize. I am a proud teacher of what they had to say.

It was such a cool project; one that my students felt

represented who they are, and what they want to say. their

voices were heard and celebrated. I am forever grateful for that

opportunity provided to them.

lOrI lIZZIO

Henninger High school

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Henninger High school student sierra Vespi

In 1979 the University Art Collection acquired robert Birmelin’s

painting, Night Driving, 1964. the easel sized acrylic on canvas

was only occasionally seen by students until the Art Collection

began participating in First Year Forum, a university program

designed to introduce incoming College of Arts and sciences

students to different parts of campus. Visiting Forum classes

were encouraged to decipher the painting’s ambiguous, non-

linear narrative and talk about how visual communications

differed from other forms of communication. After brief periods

of clear discomfort (because few had ever spent any time looking

closely at works of art) students warmed to the assignment.

Groups spent an average of ninety minutes analyzing and

discussing the image, its content and possible meanings.

A recent conversation with the artist prompted his interest in

adding another work to the permanent collection. A series of

studio visits revealed his long term involvement with intaglio

printmaking that began in his student days at Yale working with

Gabor Peterdi. An offer was extended, and accepted, to develop

a more comprehensive gift that would better illustrate Birmelin’s

involvement with the medium. Bob developed a group of

twenty-five prints describing his work from 1955 through 2007.

Additionally, the artist’s son agreed to donate in 2014 Harsh

Truths, 1988, a suite of five etchings and aquatints.

An early etching, Remembrance of Europe, 1959, describes the

artist’s experimentation with ambiguous designs. A dark, multi-

storied stone building obliquely fills the background of an Italian

piazza in front of which is parked an automobile. two men

reCeNt ACQUIsItIONs/COlleCtIONrOBert BIrMelIN

standing on the left side of a shallow balcony look out over the

square just as a figure tumbles past from an upper story. Below

them another figure’s arms emerge from the left foreground and

rests on a café table complete with a cup and saucer. the hands

are placed carefully to either side of a plate behind a group of

nondescript folded papers. In sharp contrast to the heavily

etched building façade, the foreground’s figurative elements,

table and place setting are lightly delineated, thereby balancing

the composition’s visual weight.

later prints often incorporate urban or domestic settings

as backdrops for visually bizarre figurative combinations.

translucent figurative elements are superimposed over other

bodies in fantastical arrangements. Runner’s World, from Harsh

Truths, portrays a monumental mustachioed face materializing

over an urban street scene. the face crops the upper half of a

pedestrian and the back of an adjacent figure’s head but the

background (sidewalk stores and their signage) remains visible.

In other prints, Birmelin divides the picture plane into segments

to create separate, yet integrated compositions depending on the

paper’s orientation.

Further examination of the gift reveals the artist’s curiosity in

intaglio and his exploration of the medium’s techniques. what

predominates is Birmelin’s interest in line and tone as opposed

to color. His deft manipulation of the etcher’s needle creates rich

black marks that are characteristic of the medium. In this respect

Birmelin’s etchings refer back to his drawings and his lifelong

interest in line as a mode of expression.

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robert Birmelin, Remembrance of Europe, 1959

eXHIBItION.

edUCAtION.

COlleCtION.

ArttHe

OF GIVING

support the arts at sU. Become a FrIeNd OF sUArtHelp us continue the dynamic exhibitions and engaging programs and events that enrich the syracuse Arts community. Your generosity can:

Underwrite exhibitions and Programs support research and Publications Fund Graduate Assistantships subsidize the Purchase of Artwork

supporting the sUArt Galleries has been made even easier using the secure online giving form at giving.syr.edu. simply click the GIVe NOw

link, go to ‘to give online...’ and select to designate your gift to ‘Art Galleries’ in the drop down menu. the sUArt Galleries also accepts tax

deductible donations of artwork and ethnographic objects. Contact us at suart@syr.edu or (315) 443-4097 for more information.