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.The Michigan Daily-Friday, February 2, 1979--Page 5
Let the celebration begin!
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2
This Russian desk set is one of numerous decorative objects on display at the
University museum from February 16 - March 16, as part of Russian Art
Exhibit. The set is on loan from the Hermitage in Leningrad, Russia.
'Ufaculty art exhibit
a multi-media success
By ANNA NISSEN
Anyone seeking the direction of contemporary art won't be less
confused after touring the University's Art School Faculty exhibit now at
the Museum of Art. Nevertheless, the exhibit entails a fascinating and
highly recommended survey of current media, subject, and stylistic
possibilities.
Graphic works range from Tom McClure's ultra-realistic charcoal
"Self Portrait" to Vincent Castagnacci's acrylic on canvas Tinker Toy
abstractions. Julia Andrews' semi-representational works are of
especially high quality; her "Fractures" and "Curtains" combine flat
shapes of tissue paper fragility with strength and sureness. Andrews'
"Waves" is a compelling interplay of sinuous forms, not unlike the waves
of the Japanese painter Korin.
SUBJECT MATTER extends from the cosmic to the nearly banal.
Myra Larson's acrylics are celestial views of the planets, in contrast to
Richard Witt's down-on-the-farm studies of placid cows. From a gnat's
perspective, "Cow Abstraction" depicts a section of bovine hide. "Front,
Three-Quarter, and Side Elevations" is Witt's best barnyard work here,
with an amusing predella of cow portraits.
Other exceptional painters are Mignonette Yin Ching and Guy Palaz
zola. Ms. Ching's works blend pre-school representations of trees, water,
and sky, with subtle spiritual lighting in a pristine lyricism reminiscent
of the German romantics August Macke and Campendonk.
Guy Palazzola's canvases are captivating and transcendental, with
penetrating titles like "Fall, Offering" and "Orison." These formal
arrangements of rectangular and trapezoidal shapes pulsate with star-
tling juxtapositions of color: electric blue with olive drab, acrid yellow
with cool lavendar. The technique, too, is that of a superior artist; these
paintings alone would made a visit to the Museum worthwhile.
Diversity also characterizes the sculptures in the exhibit. Outstan-
ding works include Tom Larkin's rough-hewn decapitated torsoes, Ted
Ramsey's constructions of handmade rag; and Billy Lee's "Untitled," an
intriguing and well-crafted grid of machined aluminum inlaid in black
wood. Wendel Heers' "Kitty Hawk Reliquary" visually puns man's
aeronautic aspirations, riveting an Audubon-esque eagle's wing to a man-
made glider arm.
Weaver Sherry Smith displays a stunning, monumental zig-zag
tapestry which combines a corrugated texture and a soothing progression
of aqua, gold, and rose hues.
Textbook illustrations by William Brudo, Lewis Sandler's Neo-
Victorian bookplates, and Allen Samuel's tumbler designs for Libbey
Glass Manufacturers, advertise art's more commercial aspects.
Wherever art is going, Michigan artists are making some significant
contributions. Although a few of the faculty works do not deserve men-
tion, the exhibit as a whole is remarkable and not to be missed. The
exhibit continues through Sunday, February 4; admission is free.
504 CFF
on any
r Quiche Dinner
after 5PM ;
B
By DIANE HAITHMAN
It is quite surprising that the same
bloodhound student body that manages
to sniff out Billy Joel tickets two years
before the concert remains woefully
oblivious to the-pending arrival of the
Russian Arts Festival, the glorious
product of more than four years of in-
tensive nurturing and planning. Begin-
ing Saturday at Hill Auditorium with a
sold-out concert performed by the
Moscow Philharmonic, the Festival
will continue through April 2. Over the
three-month period, the University will
pool its artistic and academic resources
to create an extraordinary panorama of
events unique to Midwestern academe.
Rarely is this writer sufficiently hum-
bled to use a word like "extravaganza"
- but such the Russian Festival will be.
"When I've been around to talk to
students, they know absolutely nothing
about it," says Martha Mehta of the
Center for Russian and East European
Studies. "It's important for students to
attend . . . it's a chance to learn
something about Soviet culture that's
not propaganda-based."
THE MUSEUM of Art presents "The
Art of Russia 1800-1850," a display of
approximately 150 paintings, graphics
and art objects from such major Soviet
museums as the State Tretiakov
Gallery of Moscow and the Kiev
Museum of Russian Art. As stressed by
both Mehta and Richard Croake of the
Museum of Art, the collection represen-
ts an unusual collaboration of the
Committee for Institutional
Cooperation, which represents the Big
Ten universities and the University of
Chicago, and the Ministry of Culture of
the USSR. The collection was not
"sent" to the United States as are other
exhibits of Russian art. The works were
selected by American artists, led by
John Bowlt, Special Curator for the
exhibit and veteran of the University of
Texas. Supported by a grant from the
National Endowment for the
Humanities, the N exhibition was
organized under the auspices of the
University of Minnesota. Although the
endowment grant committed the
University to Festival activities
surrounding the gallery, they were
already in the late stages of planning.
Most of the works in the collection are
making their U.S. debut.
Another special feature of the display
is its location. "Not only are the works
seen for the first time in the United
States, they are being seen in the Mid-
dle West," says Croake. Choice exhibits
such as this one ordinarily get snagged
first by large East and West Coast
galleries and museums. It seems strong
Slavic and Russian Studies departmen-
ts lured this one into corn country. The
artworks run a midwestern university
circuit before they head for the
Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
THE FIRST fifty years of nineteenth-
century Russia represent "A great
florescence of Russian culture," says
John Bowlt, Curator of the exhibit. The
socio-political upheaval of the War of
1812 and the later Decembrist Revolt
caused a focus on the spiritual life of
Russia and its people, which is reflec-
ted in the art of the period. Bolt
suggests exhibit visitors familiar with
art history may discover parallels bet-
ween American and Russian art
created during these years. "Both
countries were on the periphery of the
European traditions." Featured artists
include Karl Briullov, Aleksandr
Ivanov, Pavel Fedotor, and Aleksei
Venetsianov.
Concurrent with the Art Museum
exhibit will run a little-publicized com-
plimentary exhibition of large photo
murals, thematically organized, that
lend insight into the historical period of
the exhibit. The murals can be viewed
in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan
Union. "Russian-America," an
historical exhibit to be found March 9-
April 20 in Bentley Historical Library,
may further enlighten the viewer.
DURING THIS same brief "Russian
Renaissance," writers Pushkin, Gogol,
and Lermontov created their classic
GRADUATE...
LEARN
WHERE TO
FND THE
BEST JOBS
and what you might
still do toland one!
First of a five-port series in
FEBRUARY REDBOOK
b Alow @ ND
works; Glinka' composed opera - the
arts reigned. The Festival recreates the
flavor of the period by involving all ar-
tistic media. Musical attractions in-
clude Russian Piano Music by Louis
Nagel (February 24), An Afternoon of
Russian Song (February 25), Russian
Choral Music performed by the MSU
Russian Chorus, and a March 5th
special WUOM Studio Showcase of live
Russian music, hosted by Steve Skelly
and produced by Evans Mirageas.
Nagel predicts the musical scene will
be "Extremely brilliant - extremely
colorful." Mussorgsky's Pictures in
Exhibition highlights the Nagel con-
cert. Described by Nagel as "ex-
tremely pianistic," the work seems an
ideal complement to the art exhibit:
"Each piece is a miniature painting."
Theatrical events include the
Professional Theater Program's
production of The Inspector General, a
bizarrely satirical bit of stagework that
pokes an accusing and amusing finger
at the Communist system:
Melodeclamnations, with Edith
Joagnana Freeman and Joann
Freeman Schwarder, is pageant
theatre as it was performed for the
Russian court. And the University
Musical Society brings the Festival of
Russian Dance to Hill Auditorium Mar-
ch 24th.
EFFORTS OF the Center for Russian
and East European Studies have made
possible "The Arts in Russian Culture,"
a course designed to provide a basic in-
troduction to the artistic life of Russia.
Guest Lecturer John Bowlt will address
the class on "Ethics or Aesthetics -
Russian, Art 1850-1900" (February 14),
and Anatole Senkevitch discusses
"Russian Architecture at the Time of
Pushkin and Gogol" (February 21).
Martha Mehta cites Senkevitch's
discussion as a gem. "He .brings his
own artifacts : . . things that have
never been to this country before." b
Laudable Michigan faculty members
will contribute lectures in their special
R USSIANAR TS FESTIVAL:
fields. Budding scholars might also be
attracted. to the March 15th reading of
new poems by Josef Brodsky and
Aleksei Tsvetkov.
The Russian Film Festival, assem-
bled by its loving father Professor Her-
bert Eagle, includes award-winning
Soviet films yet to be publicly viewed in
Russia. Dziga Vertov's Man With A
Movie Camera, the first film of the
series, is built, says Eagle, "on a poetic
concept of film art, rather than the
traditional." Eagle also recommends
American Baptist Campus Foundation
presents
"WOMEN IN THE BIBLE.'
--o series of Sunday morning discussions-
at 11:00 a.m In the CAMPUS CENTER
502 E. HURON ST.
Presentations by:
Feb. 4 & 11: NADEAN BISHOP, Coordinator of
Women's Studies, Associate Professor, E.M.U.
Feb. 18 & Mar. 25: ANNE COLEMAN, Campus Min-
ister, Guild House, U of M
Feb. 25: MARILYN HINTERMAIER, Nurse, and a
member of The Word of God
April 1: CATHY FAVER, Ph.D. candidate' in Sociology
and Social Work, U of M
MINI-COURSES
FOR WINTER TERM.
at the MICH IGAN UNION
February 6: BASIC INVESTMENTS ........ .......(.... FREE
February 7: SIGN LANGUAGE.....................FREE
February 8, 15, 22: BELLY DANCING................. $2.00
February 13: POPULAR DIETS/NUTRITION ............. FREE
February 14: PLANT CLINIC ......................... $1.00
February 14, 21: DISCO DANCING . ... .. .. .. . ......$1.00
February 20: YOUR RIGHTS AS A TENANT ............. FREE
February 21, 28: BRIDGE ..........................:.FREE
March 13: HAIRSTYLING ......................... FREE
March 14: BACKGAMMON ................. . FREE
March 14, 21, 28: CPR ...................... .. ..... $ .30
Sign up at Ticket Central,
Michigan Union
UAC/Union Programming Committee
763-1107
Eisentein's Ivan the Terrible, to be
shown later in the season.
Says Bowlt: "Although Russian
literature and music of the nineteenth
certury are very familiar to us, we
knw, by comparison, almost nothing
about Russian art ... This is a unique
oppoitunity to begin to fill a huge gap in
our uinderstanding of Russian culture."
For most of us, whose cultural gaps are
a gooddeal wider than Mr. Bowlt's, the
vicarious experience could be unique
indeed a rare thrill. Let the
OV
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