Looking into the past at the Arkansas Arts Center
Laurel McLeod
Issue date: 9/23/04 Section: Arts and Entertainment
The exhibitions currently at the Arkansas Arts Center offer a range of interesting artwork. One can enjoy the vivid colors of the show entitled Changing Definitions: The Art Quilt or witness the historical development of photography in A Gift of Light: Photographs in the Janos Scholz Collection.
The quilt exhibition offers a unique twist on the rather common notion of quilting. These are energetic works of fiber art. The amount of effort and time put into these pieces is evident, for many of them are entirely hand-stitched.
The Studio Art Quilt Associates defines the art quilt as "a contemporary artwork exploring aesthetic concerns common to the visual arts while retaining some relationship to the quilt from which it descends."
The variation between the quilts is magnificent. Who would have thought there could be so many ways to make a blanket! But of course, these aren't your ordinary blankets. In fact, they're not meant to be anything but art.
All the pieces have variations of depth and texture, fluid movement, geometrics, and contrast. One is stretched across a frame like a painting canvas. Another has buttons, paper clips, candy wrappers, and stamps sewn into its body.
The range of differences in the art quilt is accompanied by a shared use of linearity and symmetry which spurs from classic quilting. This show is a feast of texture and color for the eyes.
One walks into a completely different atmosphere when entering the photography exhibition. Anyone with an interest in history, art history, architecture, photography or culture would find this exhibition fascinating. Personally, this was my favorite.
This exhibition of 19th century European photographs documents the emergence of a new medium for art. One witnesses the history and development of photography while walking through a maze of dark and ominous rooms.
There are examples of many different methods for negative and print making which led to the birth of modern photography. There is even a daguerreotype, an incredibly early form of capturing images on chemically treated paper and a silver-coated copper plate.
The quilt exhibition offers a unique twist on the rather common notion of quilting. These are energetic works of fiber art. The amount of effort and time put into these pieces is evident, for many of them are entirely hand-stitched.
The Studio Art Quilt Associates defines the art quilt as "a contemporary artwork exploring aesthetic concerns common to the visual arts while retaining some relationship to the quilt from which it descends."
The variation between the quilts is magnificent. Who would have thought there could be so many ways to make a blanket! But of course, these aren't your ordinary blankets. In fact, they're not meant to be anything but art.
All the pieces have variations of depth and texture, fluid movement, geometrics, and contrast. One is stretched across a frame like a painting canvas. Another has buttons, paper clips, candy wrappers, and stamps sewn into its body.
The range of differences in the art quilt is accompanied by a shared use of linearity and symmetry which spurs from classic quilting. This show is a feast of texture and color for the eyes.
One walks into a completely different atmosphere when entering the photography exhibition. Anyone with an interest in history, art history, architecture, photography or culture would find this exhibition fascinating. Personally, this was my favorite.
This exhibition of 19th century European photographs documents the emergence of a new medium for art. One witnesses the history and development of photography while walking through a maze of dark and ominous rooms.
There are examples of many different methods for negative and print making which led to the birth of modern photography. There is even a daguerreotype, an incredibly early form of capturing images on chemically treated paper and a silver-coated copper plate.