Fighting Men and Sculpting Woman – Two New Exhibitions

(Ashland, OR) – The Schneider Museum of Art is holding an opening reception for two new exhibitions on Thursday, April 4 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. In the main galleries, the Museum is presenting Fighting Men: Golub, Voulkos, Kirby, featuring the paintings of Leon Golub, prints and ceramics by Peter Voulkos, and superhero comics by the illustrator who was at the forefront of this genre, Jack Kirby. Opening in the Museum’s Treehaven Gallery will be Recent Work by Vanessa Calvert, featuring sculptural work created during the artist’s month-long residency at Southern Oregon University.
To create Fighting Men: Golub, Voulkos, and Kirby, curator Daniel Duford pulled together three seemingly disparate artists who worked with different media and were part of different genres. “Jack Kirby (1917-1994), Leon Golub (1922-2004), and Peter Voulkos (1924-2000) occupy alternate dimensions…their achievements are chronicled in different art histories, each with its own priorities.” However, Duford was interested in exploring the work of these three artists because “they were all immersed in discredited mediums and subject matter…they rooted around in the mud of history and myth, emerging with their own muscular and ham-fisted approach to their respective materials.”
Duford conceived of Golub, Voulkos, and Kirby within the theme of Fighting Men because of the violence and power that pervades their works. “The specter of violence and the consequences of power animate this exhibition…raw power emanates from the artwork,” states Duford. Leon Golub’s cautionary paintings depict the violence stemming from political power gone awry. Peter Voulkos’ ceramic pieces are the result of the powerful strength involved in punching great slabs of clay together to arrive at an object of beauty. Jack Kirby’s historically significant comic illustrations of superheroes such as Captain America and the Avengers, depict the violent struggle over evil, real and imagined.
Fighting Men: Golub, Voulkos, Kirby was curated by Portland artist Daniel Duford and the exhibition was organized by Linda Tesner, Director of the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. The exhibition was originally displayed in the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery from October 25, 2102 through March 2, 2013.  Schneider Museum of Art Acting Director Erika Leppmann seized the opportunity to bring this exhibition of nationally important artists to Southern Oregon, as part of the Museum’s practice of “collaborating with regional arts organizations in sharing exhibitions, thereby sharing costs and supporting the arts ecology of Oregon.”
The exhibition will be on view through June 8, 2013. A stunning companion guide of essays and photographs of the exhibition will be on sale at the Museum front desk. The book is $20 for non-members and $15 for members. Patrons have the opportunity to sign up for a membership at the time of purchase.
Opening concurrently with Fighting Men is Recent Work by Vanessa Calvert, an exhibition in the Museum’s Treehaven Gallery. Calvert is a sculpture and installation artist from Portland who incorporates crafts such as upholstery in her work. She states that her “work invokes the personal and collective mythology of domestic objects with forms evolving out of household materials and structures…the pieces explore the connection we have with the objects and spaces that surround us – becoming reflections of ourselves, delicately balanced between order and disorder.” Calvert received her M.F.A. in 2009 from Portland State University and her B.A. from Whitman College in 2003. She has shown her work throughout Oregon and Washington, including venues such as the Bellevue Museum, Disjecta, Igloo, The White Box, FalseFront Studio, and Broderick Gallery.
The artwork on display in Calvert’s exhibition is the result of her one-month stay on the SOU campus last winter as part of the Center for the Visual Arts’ artist-in-residence program.  During that time, she created work alongside SOU art students and faculty, invoking her teaching philosophy to help students “develop a growing ability to question what, why, and how they are making work while building a strong relationship with the materials and concepts they are using.” Recent Work by Vanessa Calvert will be on view through May 4, 2103. The artist-in-residence program and the exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Ford Family Foundation.
The mission of the Schneider Museum of Art (SMA) at Southern Oregon University is to provide a vibrant learning experience that engages students, faculty, staff, visitors and community (local, regional and virtual), in a process that embodies SOU’s vision of collaborative, innovative and globally responsive (and responsible) art in the broadest sense.  The SMA, now in its 26th year, is comprised of four galleries with over 3,500 sq. ft. of exhibition space.  The building, designed by renowned Portland architect Will Martin, is part of the Center for Visual Arts at SOU.

Museum Hours

Monday through Saturday
10:00 AM — 4:00 PM

Free Admission/Suggested Donation

$5.00

Directions for the Schneider Museum of Art

Located at the corner of Siskiyou Boulevard and Indiana Street on the Southern Oregon University campus. The Museum and Southern Oregon University are most directly accessible off of Interstate 5 at Exit 14, the southern Ashland exit.

Parking for the Schneider Museum of Art

From Indiana Street, turn left into the metered lot between Frances Lane and Indiana Street. There is also limited parking behind the Museum.Information
541-552-6245 tel
541-552-8241 fax
sma@sou.edu
sma.sou.edu