It looks like Syracuse University students finally have a reason to walk to the Shaffer Art Building — and actually go inside.

 

Though only a small fraction of SU’s immense art collection is being made available to visitors, there is more reason to visit than ever before. The reopening of the SUArt Gallery in Shaffer comes after an extensive replanning of the space to create a more accessible gallery and visible storage areas.

The fall exhibitions highlight the gallery’s permanent collection, which consists of more than 45,000 pieces of art. Associate Director and Curator David Prince said he sees the expansion as ‘an opportunity to allow the public and the students, in particular, to see more of the permanent collection than ever before.’

The primary installation, ‘4×4: Community Curators and the Syracuse University Art Collection,’ is a four-part show co-curated by different individuals from the Syracuse art community. Each exhibit offers a unique sampling of the university’s collection.

 

‘We didn’t want to have four similar shows, we wanted to have shows from four distinct perspectives,’ Prince said.

Artist and former SU lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. is one of the four contributors, showcasing a collection of work by Ivan Me?trovi?, a former professor in the College of Visual and Performing Art’s sculpture program.

 

‘For the students here, and for those that try to think like a sculptor, I want them to see the cartoons or studies, and then see it finished in bronze, wood, or stone,’ Simmons wrote in his introduction printed on the gallery wall.

‘I think it’s beautiful and always surprises me the great work we get here,’ said Nathan Nottingham, a 2007 SU art education alumnus and frequent gallery visitor.

The gallery’s shows are not solely suited to art students, though. Dr. Kheli Willetts, another ‘4×4’ curator, explores the connections between vice and virtue in her collection ‘Seven & Seven,’ a study of both ethnography and fine art.

‘The goal of ‘Seven & Seven’ is to generate dialogue,’ Willetts explained. ‘I want people to interrogate it, reflect about art, examine and perhaps reconsider their own values and viewpoints.’

 

Maybe the most diverse choice of works, ‘Seven & Seven’ includes more than twenty pieces, ranging from a 17th century gilded Buddha (Humility) to four large-scale photographs of Golden Age Hollywood actors by George Hurrell (Vanity).

Jessica Bloom and Stephanie Levy, both senior nutrition science majors, were surprised at what they found in the gallery. ‘We had a class down the hall (in Shaffer) and just walked in,’ Bloom said. ‘We had no idea this was all here.’

Prince is optimistic about the diversity of the gallery’s visitors.

 

‘One of my goals, and has been for years, is to attract non-traditional audiences that might not normally think about us as a resource,’ he said. ‘Our challenge is to connect with the student population better. I think we’ve been effective, but there’s always room for improvement.’

This season’s set of shows is a strong step in that direction.

 

Completing ‘4×4’ are shows by artist Jack White and journalist Nancy Keefe Rhodes. White wrote, ‘Boxing and wrestling, as controversial as they may be, will most likely continue to inspire the artist,’ in the introduction to his show on hand-to-hand sport, printed on the gallery wall.

 

Rhodes focuses on Depression-era America in her analysis of art made between the two world wars, one of the collection’s strongest areas. American prints make up the bulk of the permanent collection, with approximately 25,000 works that can all be viewed in flat file storage.

Adjacent to the ‘4×4’ exhibit is a smaller showing of German expressionist prints, titled ‘Impassioned Images,’ with works by Max Pechstein, Kathe Kollwitz and others.

 

‘Because much of the focus out there (in Rhode’s exhibit) is on the American, we decided to show some of the encyclopedic sense of the collection with German prints in the Print Study Room,’ Prince said.

 

On display in the Photo Study Room is an interactive experience that has a stronger appeal to students, with numerous 19th century photographs of the T?sh?-g? burial complex in Nikk?, Japan. The design of the installation takes the visitor step-by-step through the 24-building complex, dedicated to the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. The show only has about 20 photos, but it will encourage visitors to look deeper into the exhibit’s stored art.

An expanded American Art Wing is another redesigned area in the complex, offering students more access to American works than ever before. It is currently home to an exhibit of sculpture, paintings, prints and drawings, entitled ‘City Views: American Art and the Urban Image.’

 

Planned for November is a show of recent contemporary work from young New York artists. ‘Run and Tell That: New Work from New York’ will include works from twenty emerging artists, as well as installation artists, which is a first for the gallery.

‘The show’s going to be a real eye-opener,’ Prince said. ‘It’s going to be completely different from what you’re seeing now.’

aeorgel@syr.edu

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: 4×4: Community Curators and the Syracuse University Art Collection

WHEN: September 9th, from 5-7 p.m.

WHERE: Shaffer Art Building

HOW MUCH: Free

An opening reception will be held this Thursday, September 9th, from 5-7 p.m. Visitors will be able to view all seven shows on display, in addition to expanded print and ethnographic spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published on September 6, 2010 at 12:00 pm