CHLOE KOWALYK
Staff Writer
Yes, you read that headline right!
Andy Warhol, among many other notable artists, is now featured in SUNY Fredonia’s own Marion Art Gallery.
The current exhibit, “Living With Art: Selections from the Frederic P. ‘Nick’ Norton Collection,” features a wide range of pieces from Norton’s home.
Norton found a love for collecting art from his father. He keeps the art he’s been collecting since the 1950s in his home in Chautauqua county.
As a graduate from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, Norton worked as an attorney in Buffalo until 2005. He then served as the Arkwright Town Supervisor for the next 12 years.
Norton has also been involved with the Rotary Club since 1961, and is a Paul Harris Fellow with four sapphires he received by donating over $5,000.
He is also a benefactor and a recipient of the Rotary International Foundation’s Citation for his meritorious service.
Norton is also an active volunteer for various associations and has donated over 500 pieces he collected with his father to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.
Wanting to share his collection with the community, Norton has allowed several pieces from his home to be showcased here at SUNY Fredonia.
He was so excited to showcase his collection that he even offered the gallery his bed frame. Laughing, the exhibition coordinator Hyla Stellhorn says, “We weren’t going to take an 80-year-old man’s bed away from him.”
Norton’s enthusiasm for collecting art is shown through the diversity of his collection.
The exhibit in Marion Art Gallery showcases a wide variety of Eastern and Western art, as well as both 2D and 3D pieces. The pieces span from the years 1652-2000.
One of the most recognizable pieces in the exhibition is “Mao 92,” by Andy Warhol. The piece is a screenprint on Beckett High white paper, and was made in 1972.
Another prominent piece is “Poltergeist” (1998), by Julie Becker. The photograph is a Lambda c-print on aluminum. Becker enjoyed investigating psychologically charged areas within rooms. Her piece in Marion Art Gallery depicts what appears to be someone’s bedroom, with a TV and nightstand side-by-side.
The TV shows the famous scene from the 1982 film “Poltergeist,” where the spectral figure descends the stairs. Becker transformed this scene with her art by adding in an ethereal blur emerging from the TV.
On the nightstand next to the TV are several references from the movie, including a photo of the house and the time “3:33” on a clock.
Perhaps the most eye-catching piece in the whole exhibit is “Magis Spun Chair,” by Thomas Heatherwick.
Stellhorn says that Heatherwick “is a strong believer that you can have form and function and design work together.”
The “Magis Spun Chair” is an odd shape that was designed to look like a sculpture standing upright, but can also be used as a chair both indoors and outdoors when tilted on its side.
Overall, the exhibition features various types of art, including drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures and furniture.
With the diversity of the exhibit, there is sure to be something to interest everyone.
Community members and SUNY Fredonia students are encouraged to check out the exhibition, which will be on display until April 11.
The Marion Art Gallery is open Tuesday-Thursday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and is closed on Mondays.
The exhibit is free and open to the public.
To schedule a tour of “Living With Art,” contact Barbara Räcker, the director of Marion Art Gallery, at (716) 673-4897 or at barbara.racker@fredonia.edu