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TALE OF TWO CULTURES: STUDENT ARTISTS JOIN FRENCH-TEXAN PROJECTBy Ellen Trinklein, Rice ThresherApril 5, 2013
When artists look at a door, they see not a door out an entrance to other cultures, one people can decide to open in close.This year, two of our own have been given the opportunity to contribute to the public art project Open the Door, created by the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts and the Parisian artist collective 9eme Concept, the 9th Concept.
This project, which brings together Texan, French and local student artists, seeks to take viewers on a transformative journey to break down cultural barriers and expand cooperation between Houston’s numerous cultures.
Along with students from institutions such as the Art League of Houston, the Awty International School and the Glassell School of Art, Wiess College junior Linh Tran Do and Lovett College freshman Sophie Eichner were selected by a panel of jurors to contribute their own art to the project. In total, Open the Door will consist of 19 installations of 60 unique doors in locations throughout Houston.
Do, who has also shown work in art competitions sponsored by the Society for the Performing Arts Houston, a “Visual Arts Scholastic Event,” the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the Rice Matchbox Gallery, collaborated with students from the University of Houston, Downtown to create her door. According to Do, her side of the door, made from a collage of maps, acrylic paint and paper is titled “Culture Exchange.” Her door depicts people from all over the world meeting as they cross paths on the journey of life. “Just as the choices we make in life are complex and varied, the different colored paths in ‘Culture Exchange’ branch off, split away, and join again …” Do said. “Along the way, we meet new people, learn about new cultures, and share our culture with others.” The other side of the door, Do said, depicts people climbing on a staircase and floating on balloons towards the sky. Eichner, on the other hand, combined maps to create a textured graphic design, which she then created using laser-cut pieces of wood and acrylic paint. She has had previous work shown in a TAG competition at Gallery 94 New York and in the Miami Art Museum as part of the YoungArts Finalist show, and she has won numerous gold and silver medals in National Scholastics and other national competitions. “Our doors had to do with bridging the gaps and opening doors between cultures and, as an artist, how you respond to these cultural differences.” Eichner said. Eichner’s door weaves together a map of Paris, where she lived the first seven years of her life, a map of Richmond, Virginia, ‘where she grew up,’ and maps of Houston and the outskirts of Paris. Eichner was honored to have one of the founding members of the project, French artist Romain Froquet, choose to paint the other side of her door. “I was really excited because I found out [Froquet] specifically picked my door and actually stole me from another artist who also wanted to use my artwork,” Eichner said. According to Eichner, Froquet’s side of the door is a collage of posters and graffiti inspired by the colors used in Eichner’s side of the door. Both Eichner and Do agreed that one of the best parts of being involved in Open the Door, besides having their art shown, was the opportunity it gave them to interact with Houston artists. “The reception [for all the artists involved] was one of the coolest parts about being involved in the project,” Eichner said. “At the reception, I got to meet really cool Houston artists, like Daniel Anguilu. If you’ve ever seen a huge mural in Houston, he’s probably the one who did it.” Do said that students should not be afraid to get involved in the Houston art scene. “I think it is definitely worth it for students to get involved in the vibrant art scene in Houston,” Do said. “There’s a community ready to appreciate art, and now is a great time to start.” March 16th kicked off the Open the Door project; Eichner and Do’s were the first installations in front of Houston Public Library. The other installations, including the ones incorporating Eichner and Do’s work, will be installed in at least twelve other locations throughout Houston during 2013 to create a “Cultural Trail.” More of Eichner and Dos work can be found on their websites, www.cargocollective.com/sophie_eichner and www.linhtrando.com. Eichner’s installation “Discarded Geometry” is also being currently shown at Rice’s Matchbox Gallery, and Do’s work can be seen in Sewall Hall. Images: Sophie Eichner’s Open the Door piece is inspired by maps (above left); Linh Tran Do’s Open the Door Piece is meant to convey cultural exchange (above right).
PRINTMAKING ROUNDTABLE SERIESBroker vs. Kayser, March 27, 4:30 p.m., Sewall Hall 201
RICE DISTIGUISHED LECTURER EMERITUS THOMAS MCEVILLEY1939-2013Rice Distinguished Lecturer Emeritus Thomas McEvilley passed away March 2, 2013, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York. He was 73 years old.Dr. McEvilley taught at Rice in the Department of Art and Art History from 1969-2004 through funding from the Menil Collection and Rice University. Professor McEvilley taught art history and criticism classes during his career at Rice. One of his classes, "Art and the Mind," filled to overflowing throughout the 1980s and 90s.Dr. McEvilley authored books that included Sculpture in the Age of Doubt (1999), The Exile's Return: Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Postmodern Era (1993), Art & Otherness: Crisis in Cultural Identity (1992), and Art and Discontent (1991). The following article appeared in ARTFORUM on March 2, 2013. Dr. McEvilley was a contributing editor at ARTFORUM.
Art historian and writer Thomas McEvilley died this morning at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York. According to an online tribute posted by the poet Charles Bernstein, McEvilley’s wife confirmed that the cause was complications from cancer. McEvilley was a well-known and influential art critic, and in 2005 he founded the MFA Art Criticism and Writing program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has been a contributing editor to Artforum as well as editor in chief of Contemporanea, and over his long career he wrote numerous monographs, essays, and reviews on artists such as Kara Walker, Paul McCarthy, Pat Steir, Yves Klein, and James Lee Byars. A distinguished lecturer in art history at Rice University, McEvilley was the recipient of many awards, including the Semple Prize at the University of Cincinnati, a National Endowment for the Arts Critics grant, a Fulbright fellowship, and the 1993 Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism from the College Art Association. According to Bernstein, at the time of his death McEvilley was at work on a study of the Greek anthology.
Art historian and writer Thomas McEvilley died this morning at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York. According to an online tribute posted by the poet Charles Bernstein, McEvilley’s wife confirmed that the cause was complications from cancer.
McEvilley was a well-known and influential art critic, and in 2005 he founded the MFA Art Criticism and Writing program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has been a contributing editor to Artforum as well as editor in chief of Contemporanea, and over his long career he wrote numerous monographs, essays, and reviews on artists such as Kara Walker, Paul McCarthy, Pat Steir, Yves Klein, and James Lee Byars. A distinguished lecturer in art history at Rice University, McEvilley was the recipient of many awards, including the Semple Prize at the University of Cincinnati, a National Endowment for the Arts Critics grant, a Fulbright fellowship, and the 1993 Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism from the College Art Association. According to Bernstein, at the time of his death McEvilley was at work on a study of the Greek anthology.
More on this scholar, poet, author, art critic, and teacher: Read Rainey Knudson's Glasstire article on Dr. McEvilley >> Read Charles Berstein Jacket 2 article on Dr. McEvilley >>Read artcritical: the online magazine of art and ideas article on Dr. McEvilley >> Read Robert Boyd's article on The Great God Pan is Dead blog on Dr. McEvilley >> Read G. Roger Denson's article in the Huffpost Arts & Culture on Dr. McEvilley >> Image: Thomas McEvilley: A Critical Eye, drawing and etching by Karin Broker. Limited edition print, Rice University. Copyright Karin Broker.
'PAPER RIOT (8)' OPENS IN THE VISUAL ARTS MAIN GALLERYExhibition on view November 29-January 15, 2012Rice Media Center 'Paper Riot (8)' opens tonight in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts main gallery in the Rice Media Center. The exhibition of eight undergraduate students' work in ARTS 322, 3-D Printmaking, will feature paper masks, objects, and large installations all produced with paper. The paper pieces were printed by silk screen and paper lithography methods then manipulated into sculptural format.
This class was supported primarily by a grant from the Brown Foundation with additional support from the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts under the direction of Karin Broker, professor of printmaking and drawing.
The artists included in this exhibition are Lisa Biletska, Hye Jeon Jeon, Julia Klineberg, Kim Le, Lan Li, Morgan McNeel, Lydia Smith, and Angela Tran.
Download Paper Riot (8) exhibition flyer >>
MOBILE ART: CARGO SPACE NOW 'UNDER CONSTRUCTION' AT RICEBy Jeff Faulk, Rice News StaffOctober 12, 2012Tucked in a corner of the Rice campus, between the Rice Media Center and Reckling Park, a former Rice transit bus is currently undergoing a remarkable transformation into a mobile arts residency and art space that will host artists from Houston and around the world. Called Cargo Space, the transformation is the brainchild of Christopher Sperandio, an assistant professor of visual and dramatic arts. Sperandio said Cargo Space is an idea born out of a need. “There simply aren’t enough artists visiting this part of the country,” he said. The goal is to host artists of all stripes, cultural workers for extensive road trips across the United States, events and all manner of functions around Houston. He purchased the bus with a Humanities Research Innovation Fund grant from the Humanities Research Center.
He jokingly likens it to Jacques Cousteau’s famous expedition ship, The Calypso. “The bus will be more like an interdisciplinary expedition vehicle, a land vessel,” he said.
Assisted by students and community volunteers, Sperandio is currently dismantling the bus from back to front, top to bottom. “We’re taking something that has served Rice for so many years and are repurposing it,” he said. This includes pulling out the floors, insulation and heating and air conditioning units. “We’re stripping it down to the bare metal and building it back up.” More >>
49th ANNUAL STUDENT ART EXHIBITION: On view April 19-May 13, 2012