At the Faulconer Gallery Spring 2013
Animals Among Us
April 5 through June 30
This exhibition uses works of art and other artifacts from Grinnell College collections to unpack the connections between humans and animals. Drawing on their majors in anthropology, art, biology, history, and literature, 10 students curators in Faulconer Gallery director Lesley Wright’s seminar Captured Creatures (Fall 2012) selected the art, designed the exhibition, shaped its themes, and wrote a catalog exploring our lives among the other animals.
Ann Redden Rustebakke ’49, Dale B. Furnish ’62, Carol and Kenneth L. Adelman ’67, Glenn R. Sigmund ’74, and William R. Thompson ’91 made gifts of art to the College that are included in this show.
From a Distance
May 17 through Sept. 6, 2013
New York artist Lorna Bieber presents large-scale wall installations that begin as stock photographs — those generic shots of unidentified people, places, and things commonly used in magazines and advertising. By cropping, enlarging, photocopying, and occasionally drawing or painting on the photographs, Bieber transforms purposefully bland, seemingly unauthored imagery into something dreamlike and profoundly personal, inspiring a feeling that we’ve been in these pictures before.
An Old Portrait Gets a Fresh Face
A Grinnell painting spends a year away for restoration.
A moving accident in 2011 sent a member of the College’s permanent art collection to Minneapolis’ Midwest Art Conservation Center, where it spent nearly a year under the care of art conservator Joan Gorman. Portrait of a Lady in a Red Dress (Justus Sustermans, c. 1640) returned in fall 2012. “Part of our budget is dedicated for conservation every year,” explains Grinnell College curator Kay Wilson. “We have a list of things that need conservation, but sometimes an accident puts something to the top of the list.”
Using thin Japanese tissue, Gorman repaired the tear in the canvas and applied a medley of concoctions and tools to repair other injuries. Deionized water and vulcanized rubber sponges helped clean the surface; controlled humidity repaired warps and deformations. Finally, Gorman reattached the painting to its frame with extra fortification for protection.
Lady in a Red Dress has become a familiar face in the College’s permanent art collection and an Art 103 staple for students analyzing portrait painting. It has been in the collection since 1980.