ALYSSA HUNTER
Special to The Leader
Friday night: the room of the exhibit was overwhelmed with the whispers of curious viewers. Some more vocal than others with words such as, “bizarre,” and “inventive.” The expressive observers wandered about and witnessed the large scaled, colored photographs, an installation piece, four movies, two books, and a large projection.
A lot of different destinations and diverse things was the definition of the XING Perspectives exhibit in the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery Friday evening. The opening of the collaborative exhibition by the Dutch, international artists, Jan Theun van Rees and Jacqueline Kooter was an exquisite preview of contemporary, European artwork.
This show has its own way of going about compelling the viewers by taking away what everyone squints at, the labels. The labels typically seen on the side of the artwork to tell the story or the title, is non-existent. This method of going about displaying the artworks with a number system as explained by Kooter, was to rid the viewer’s distraction from what was really important.
Typically viewers long for the story behind the artworks but never take the time to actually look at the picture as witnessed in Kooters experience. For several of our attending students and faculty, this was apparently a new and surprising thing. The result was obviously affective in drawing in the attention on the true beauty of each piece.
Popular amongst the attendance was a 3-piece set titled, “Overgrown.” These large-scaled images are positioned on the center wall in the middle of the gallery. The close-up of books piled high, are covered with interesting but beautiful, thick, puffy, clouds of white dust. The blanket of dust covers the binding and pages after years of apparently being untouched. The feeling of time and the aging of the engulfed books, gave elegance to the artwork, making it the favorite for many on the opening evening.
An alumna of the 2013 Visual Arts and New Media graduates, Dani Brooks was thrilled to express her feelings on the regional artwork. Ms. Brooks stated that each of the artworks gave off a different sense of sadness in her option. The alumni overviewed the exhibit by saying, “… you can tell that you are meant to get different meaning from each piece.”
The two artists had individual art- works throughout the gallery in addition to, two collaborative works. The very kind and approachable Ms. Kooter when explaining the exhibit was passionate in thoroughly explaining their method of approach. Kooter said that they treated the Marion Art Gallery as an installa- tion itself.
The approach both artists wanted to pursue is exemplified by the repetition of images, and the interaction of the artwork by each individual. Characters or images throughout the exhibit such as Kooter’s silhouette figure of a ten- year-old girl and Van Rees’s recurring photographs, gave the exhibit the feeling of connectivity.
One of the repeated photographs by Van Rees was the “ Dismantled Returned.” This is the second photograph on the left hand side of the gallery or number one according to the hand out of listed works.
This image is deceiving at first glance because of the use of a photograph within another photograph.
The backstory of this large scaled illusion is the two different views of renovation a year apart. The subject matter of photo is: on the left the new reconstruction and on the right is the large-scale photo of what was there before. The before image is seen again in the collaborated installation, in the back left corner of the gallery.
The collaborated artwork is entitled, “Collaborated Space.” It takes on and displays both approaches to each of the artists. The installation uses light to create a shadow silhouette of the repeated little girl on the renovated architecture photo. On the left of this image is a paper arm that gently drifts and floats from the wind of passing by viewers.
The particular aspect of the drifting arm connects the piece to the movies by Kooter throughout the gallery. This further expresses the method of the pair’s shared intention of connecting and making the space a whole. It also furthered the idea of each artist’s interest in people interacting within an environment and perceptions of space.
Tim Frerichs, Associate Professor in the Visual Arts and New Media department, has been a friend of the couple for about 13 years. He had asked the international pair to come and show our students the global side of art. His mission of intent: “…to show and give our students the idea of what is going on overseas.”
Frerich’s good intention of giving students a more cultural experience and showing them something new in comparison to the previous exhibits resulted in a great success. From hidden to forbidden places, to the presentation of people interacting with the environment, the viewers were surely left with a remarkable visual of exactly what is going on elsewhere in the world of art.
XING Perspectives
Cathy and Jeese Marion Art Gallery Rockefeller Arts Center
Friday, Sept. six – Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday 12-4 P.M.
Friday – Saturday 12-6 P.M.
Sunday 12-4 P.M.