Press Releases |
||||
| UNL ORGANIZES
MAJOR EXHIBITION OF WOODCUT PRINTS FROM FINLAND THAT WILL
TOUR NATIONALLY Lincoln, Neb.--"Mirror of the Wood: A Century of the Woodcut Print in Finland" will be exhibited at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this coming fall. The historical selection of prints will be at the Sheldon from September 17-November 28, and the contemporary works will be at the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery, September 7-October 18. An opening reception for both exhibitions will be held Wednesday, October 6, from 6-8pm in both the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery in Richards Hall.
The exhibition theme considers the evocative aura of Finland - as a place of pristine forests and lakes, which has distilled into a love of naturalness and aesthetic sophistication in the 70 prints by 39 artists from throughout the country. "The people of Finland have an ethic of self-support and reliance, and a deep sentiment and poignancy for transient beauty, balanced with humorous release and ironic observation. The mystique of the Finnish character enables these artists to remain attuned to their heritage and nature", says Professor Karen Kunc, the exhibition curator and organizer, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "I feel that their prints speak universally for us as well."
Wood, as the abundant material in the forested land of Finland, has determined the characteristics of Finnish houses, saunas, folk crafts, and is a ready material for printing blocks. The history and use of wood as shelter and fuel-for necessary construction or destruction -is a known and timeless story. Throughout civilization wood has been revered as the substance of our images of god, and as the carrier of our narrative records, though worm-eaten, that endure through the ages. In our own times wood suggests the endangered wilderness and forests, as well as the literal and figurative acidic degeneration of today's information in newspapers and our throw-away "pulp culture." In this exhibition these issues are a subtext to the graphic power so readily apparent and utilized in the woodcut prints by the earliest artists in Finland, to the innovations and challenges undertaken by the contemporary artists who have become significant in Finland and around the world. "Mirror of the Wood" will be a featured exhibition of the upcoming conference "Printmaking Relevance/Resonance," the biennial conference of the Mid-America Print Council (MAPC), which will be held October 6-9, 2004, and hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This exhibition is supported by grants from the Nebraska Arts Council, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Arts and Humanities Research Fund, the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts UNL, MEDICI, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the Finlandia Foundation, and by FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange. For more information about the "Mirror of the Wood" please contact Karen Kunc at (402) 472-5541 or e-mail . For information about "Printmaking Relevance/Resonance" please visit the conference website at http://www.unl.edu/MAPC2004. |
