Arts & Entertainment
Thursday, August 25, 1994
Page 18
Artist’s work
reaps scenes
from nature
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Everything is relative.
Karen Kune, art professoral the University
of Ncbraska-Lincoln, used this phrase to af
firm her modesty. For someone like Kune, that
may be a difficult task.
When an artist’s work is represented in the
Library of Congress, the National Museum of
American Art, the Smithsonian Institution
and the National Art Library, there is little
reason to be modest.
When an artist’s work is known interna
tionally at the Victoria & Albert Museum in
London; the Art Museum and Gallery of
Reykjavik, Iceland; the Machida City Muse
um of Graphic Arts in Tokyo; and the Instituto
per La Culturae L’artc in Catania, Italy, pride
is unavoidable.
Add in several national and international
awards and Kune (pronounced Koontz), who
specializes in woodcuts, takes it all in stride.
“I just work at getting my art out into the
printmaking world,” she said. “I’m in compe
titions which are not often in Nebraska or the
Midwest.”
Her work will be shown in Nebraska this
fall when an exhibit of Kune’s woodcuts,
drawings and monoprints opens Sept. 2 at the
Haydon Art Gallery.
Kune said people both inside and outside
the United States were curious about her work
because “it’s interesting and different.”
“I work ina very traditional medium, wood
cut printmaking, that is thousands of years
old,” she said, “and I give it a very contempo
rary look.”
The process of woodcut printmaking in
volves carving a plank of wood into a specific
design. The relic f areas of the wood arc covered
with paint. The wood is then pressed onto
canvas creating a print.
Woodcuts are usually small black-and-white
representatives. Kune said. But Kune’s prints
are abstract designs full of bold colors.
Kune, who just returned from teaching a
printmaking class in Florence. Italy, said much
of her inspiration came from her travels —
specifically, the natural world around her.
“My theme is of nature and how it’s been
conformed, stretched, treated and tamed,” she
said. “It’s partially about the relation between
mankind and nature.”
Asevcry work has itsown meaning, so does
every new environment Kune surveys. Within
Damon Lee/DN
Karen Kune, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln art professor, shows prints
similar to those that will be on display at the Haydon Art Gallery starting
Sept. 2. Kune, an internationally recognized artist, said the Hayaon show
would be her first public show in Lincoln in 10 years.
these individualities, however, lies a common
observance.
“I sec countrysides, gardens and how one
individual makes an effort to grow one flower
in a pot. I sec the impact this has on individuals
and how it can change, create new forms,
destroy and develop a hybrid creature.”
Even in the negative aspects of environ
ment, Kune sees something “beautiful and
strange.”
“My ideas arc visual eye-catchers ” she
said.
See KUNC on 20
Event list
for UPC
is diverse
By Jill O’Brien
Staff Reporter
The University Program Council — the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln organization
responsible for bringing Rod Stewart, Mid
night Oil and Vince Gill to Lincoln last year—
has planned a new semester of events.
Thee vents range from the traditional Wacky
Wednesdays and poster sales to concerts, in
cluding The Eagles' Oct. 3 show at the Bob
Devancy Sports Center.
Tickets for The Eagles still are available,
according to James Buckley, coordinator of
campus programs.
“I expect the show to sell out now that the
students are back on campus," Buckley said.
Students may be scratching their heads
wondering how UPC managed to hook the
Eagles, but Buckley made it clear that it was
hard work—and not pure luck—that enabled
UPC to obtain one of the biggest touring acts
of 1994.
“The University Program Council has made
it a priority of theirs to land major shows on
campus and in the Lincoln community,”
Buckley said. “We’ve been fortunate enough
to cultivate relationships with promoters, as
well as build a strong working relationship
with the athletic department."
The hard work of UPC members is further
evidenced by the diversity of programs offered
this semester.
Students in need of a laugh can attend
comedian Vic Henley’s show at the Culture
Center on Friday.
Other comedians include Jackie Guerra
teaming up with Willie Barccna on Sept. 27 at
the Nebraska Union and Clinton Jackson,
slotted for Oct. 6 at the Culture Center.
“All of those comedians have specials or
television shows in the making,” Buckley said.
“Last year on the same night as Vince Gill,
UPC presented a show with Margaret Cho, a
comedian who will have a scries debuting this
fall.”
In essence, students have a golden opportu
nity to see future big-name talent at an afford
able price in an intimate atmosphere and have
great laughs, he said.
Besides comedians, musical acts are among
UPC’s fall events.
See UPC on 20
Damon Lee/DN
Jason Merritt, a sophomore fine arts major,
strolls past the Donald Sultan sculpture “Rain
Pots2362 lbs x 3 August 1989” near the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery. The piece is a recent
addition to the gallery’s sculpture garden.
Inside, outside Sheldon additions
offer viewers a palette of meanings
By Paula Lavigne
Senior "Reporter
Inside and out, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and
Sculpture Garden recently acquired a variety of new addi
tions to its collection.
Daphne Deeds, gallery curator, said the acquisitions were
prominent additions to the gallery’s collection.
“Glass Cube Cal #8,” a sculpture by Larry Bell, is a glass
cube arranged to show images in a mirror, translucent or
transparent form.
Although it is deceivingly simple in its appearance, the
cube represents transcendental thought and philosophies of
Eastern religions and the nature of space.
Bell was a prominent member of the “light and space”
group of artists in the ’60s, and his work reflects aspects of
that time period.
“Scrape,” a creation of paper bap, silk, cloth and news
paper images, was an influential piece in the late ’50s. The
piece uses imagery from mass media in a pop-art collage on
silk.
Outside, in the sculpture garden, “Rain Fots«2362 lbs X 3
August 1989” is a piece by Donald Sultan on loan to the
gallery.
A prominent painter in the 1980s, Sultan used everyday
elements of still-life such as fruits and flowers and twisted
them to create his own image.
In an attempt to interact with its surrounding environ
ment, the piece is designed to hold rainwater.
The rendering of the female form in reclining position
appears in “Odalisque II, 1989“ by Manuel Ncri.
The piece, made of marble, exhibits abstractive smooth
surfaces, while the more textured areas util izc the grain of the
marble to coincide with physical properties.
The final piece, “Monet’s Table,” is almost a parody of
Monet’s “Watcrlilics.” This steel sculpture by Michael Todd
is a homage to the French Impressionist painter.
“Monet’s Table" uses industrial materials in raw form to
contrast the romantic, placid beauty of “Watcrlilics.” The
piece was placed in the sunken area of the garden next to the
real watcrlilics in the pond.
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery is open Tuesday
through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday,
Friday and Saturday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The
sculpture garden always is accessible. Admission is free.
