Arts&Entertainment
• *V *
Jamaica, Midwest visit Omaha gallery
■ Two exhibits opening
at the Joslyn Art Museum
on May 13 showcase two
different parts of the globe.
By Sarah Baker
Senior editor
If diversity is the spice of life,
two exhibits opening concurrently in
Omaha have a comer on the market.
“Soon Come: The Art of
Contemporary Jamaica” and
“Midlands Invitational 2000: Works
on Paper” both open May 13 at the
Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St.
in Omaha.
But about the only thing the
shows have in common is their open
ing date.
“Soon Come: The Art of
Contemporary Jamaica” features
paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculp
ture and textiles by 20 artists.
The works in the show reflect
Western artistic influences but also
deal with issues such as slavery,
immigration and the history of
Jamaica. Jamaica is a former British
plantation colony.
The exhibition’s major theme is
an exploration of differences
between artists who studied in the
United States and Europe and those
when the time is right.
Farber said the title definitely
works within the context of the show.
“I certainly hope it lives up to its
title,” she said, laughing. “Jamaican
artists have come into a strong voice
in the last year, so maybe it is the
right time to show this art.”
The second of the two shows,
“Midlands Invitational 2000: Works
on Paper” focuses closer to home.
The exhibition is the fourth in the
Joslyn’s series honoring artists in
Nebraska and its six contiguous
states, including Colorado, Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and
Wyoming.
The show features 55 works by
18 artists and concentrates on artists
who create drawings, prints and
other works on paper.
Farber said the museum decided
it was the right time to make works
on paper the focus of a show.
“We looked at the past (Midland
Invitationals) and felt they were lack
ing in a look at prints,” she said.
The Invitational in 1990 focused
on painting and sculpture, the 1992
exhibit on installation art and the
show in 1997 on photography.
The majority of the show’s artists
work primarily in drawing or print
making, but they use varied
approaches.
Karen Kune, an artist from Avoca
and an art history professor at the
wno use me university ot
historicalartis- // T j • i 1 j Nebraska
tic traditions of •• 1 tfllYlK €V€fybOCiy Lincoln, has
Jamaica. . / j i . » three works in
Janet IS Challenging trl€ the show, all of
Farber, the . . which she did
josiyn’s asso- perimeters oj their in 1999.
ciate curator of She said
20'l> century OWfl medium, and the exhibit was
art and the # important for
curator of the that IS Q artists such as
show, said the herself,
exhibit has pOStmodem “It’s about
many works r time that
pointing to tra- UDPrOClch.” they’ve done
d i t i o n a 1 ’ this,” Kune
Caribbean cul- n„ said.
ture. f Kune said
“If you are UNL ait history profeesor the Joslyn
familiar with used to have a
the culture of large biennial
L-ariDoean an, you mignt oe aoie 10
point to figures or signs that show
the art is from the islands,” Farber
said. “One of the things the show
demonstrates is that there is no one
regionalist voice (for Jamaican art),
but that it is broad in scope ”
The show highlights the work of
artists working today in Jamaica and
also includes Jamaican artists living
abroad.
The title of the exhibition comes
from the Jamaican vernacular
expression “soon come” which
translates into “great things happen
exniDition open to an media, out it
proved to be too cumbersome and
controversial for artists.
She said because of the dissatis
faction, the museum changed to
“focus shows,” in which it selects a
particular medium and invites artists
to participate.
For the most part, she said, the
exhibitions are positive.
“To have the featured selection
(of works on paper only) does give
more of an idea about what’ls happen
ing,” she said.
But she also said the concentrat
_ * . .2. _
Courtesy photos
LEFT TOP: DAVID PINTO’S “Native Hybrid” is part of the Josiyn’s Jamaican art
exhibit opening May 13.
LEFT. ALBERT CHONG’S “SeH-Portrait with Eggs” is a gelatin silver print which will
be on display at the Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. in Omaha.
RIGHT: CIMA KATZ’S “Dancing Feet” is part of the Joslyn Art Museum’s special
exhibition “Midlands Invitational 2000: Works on Paper” which opens May 13.
ed exhibits make for a long wait
before some artists in certain media
have a chance to be in the spotlight.
She said she’d been waiting for
this exhibition for about nine years,
but added that it was worth the wait.
“It’s a great opportunity,” she
said.
The artists in the exhibition were
chosen by the co-curators of the
show, Joslyn Director John E.
Schloder and Faber.
Of the 175 original artists asked
to participate, 64 wer$ then selected
for closer scrutiny, and after seeing
each artist’s work in person, the final
18 artists were chosen.
“It’s a several-tier selection
process,” Faber said. “It also always
makes for a hard decision.”
Works such as the ones in the
gfc -ife ■* ■ - .
show have continued to gain authori
ty in the art world and also have
gained stature in a postmodern art
world where the boundaries of “fine
art” continue to blur.
“I think everybody is challenging
the perimeters of their own medium,
and that is a postmodern approach,”
Kune said. “When you deconstruct
the work itself, what happens on
paper and in the print medium, you
are breaking those traditions in a
more subtle way. You still have the
reverence of tradition.”
“Taking it to those possibilities
allows mixed media to look in all
directions and expand its definition,”
she said.
Faber said works on paper have
continued to gain prominence, and
this show reaffirms that growth.
Delan Lonowski/DN
“Prints historically have been
thought of as intimate, as separate
from painting and sculpture,” she
said.
“The works these artists do have
become vital to the individual voices
of art.”
*
By Jason Hardy s
Staff writer
Every year, more and more stud
ies are done to find ways to refine
and improve the education process.
By the time students reach college,
they have probably tapped into the
way they harness their creative ener
gy*
In his Experiments in Mixed
Media class, visiting professor Jim
Woodfill told his students to forget
all of that.
“This class bas been all about
freedom,” said John Shulters, a sen
ior sculpture major and a student in
Woodfill’s class.
“The way that I used to work was
very analytical. There was research,
sketches and computer designs, but
now it’s different. One of the most
important things he to I'd me was to
break out of the box.”
“He said to just get the idea work
ing and to not be so concerned with
art making but to work through your
ideas,” Shulters said.
The class foOised on using dif
ferent pieces of technology arid other
mediums to create artwork.
The work was very different from
traditional artwork. Students were
given total freedom to create whatev
er they wished.
Tonight, the fruition of the stu
dents’ work this semester will be on
display for an exhibit of light, audio
and video artistic gadgetry.
Shulters said he’s including a
piece he created using a video loop
projected on a wall where people can
sculpt the light with their body.
He said the other work presented
in the show was just as experimental
as his, including a portable beach ,
with sand, sea breeze and traditional
beach smells.
“There are no paintings, no prints
or traditional artwork,” he said.
‘‘There are lots ofbizarre devices
because the pieces beautifully
reflect the personalities behind the
artists.
‘VI think it reveals more than
when you lump a bunch of people in
a painting class who already know
about painting.
“This class has been all about re
discovery.”
Shulters, a graduating senior,
said the class was different from
other classes because the students
were given more freedom.
The class format was nearly non
existent, and the class subject matter
was, for the most part, up to the stu
dents.
“People sometimes get stuck in
making art to fulfill assignments.
Since his class has no assignments,
there was an amazing amount of
freedom,” Shulters said.
“It makes you look at your whole
process a different way. He got me to
worry less about the finished project
and more about getting it to work the
way I wanted it to.”
All things considered, it is proba
bly safe to say that tonight’s show is
definitely not a run-of-the-miM
University of Nebraska-Lincoln art
exhibit.
Shulters said the exhibit will
break down boundaries between the
artwork and the viewer, which peo
ple will appreciate.
“I think they’ll be very surprised.
, * Experiments in
‘Z Mixed Media
y, showcase
'r ■„ J*V • ; •
WHERE: In space above
Homer's Music, 14th and
n ctrppte
WHEN: tonight, 6 -10 p.m.
COST: free
THE SKINNY: Exhibit of
light, audio and video
artistic gadgetry.
I think it’s unlike any show at the uni
versity,” he said.
“You might walk in and say ‘what
is this, art?’ but there was a reason it
was made.
“This is not a pretentious exhibit.
It’s not like a museum where every
thing is behind a glass case.”