Friday, September
9, 2016Fall Exhibition Opening
Reception
6:00-8:00 PM
Join us in
celebration of five new exhibitions at the Hilliard Museum!
Free and open to the public
Sneak Peek “Behind the Scenes” Artist
Talks
Oliver Wasow and Francie Bishop Good
6:00 PM, Wednesday, September 7th
Lafayette, LA, August 10, 2016- The Hilliard
University Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its Fall 2016 season with a series of five new
exhibitions. The public is invited to celebrate and
view the new gallery installations on Friday, September
9, at a reception from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
Three of the exhibitions this Fall are organized by guest curator
Jane Hart, who has over thirty years of experience working in
contemporary art. “This is
my first time working in Louisiana and the
rich culture of the people here has been very inspiring,” says Hart. “Each of the exhibits
I curated for the Hilliard Museum focuses on the
genre of portraiture, and essentially, they are studies on the universality of the
human condition, as well as the uniqueness of individuals in a global society.” Hart’s past projects have been presented in New York, London, Los Angeles
and South Florida.
Hart will be in attendance at the reception September 9, and joined by a number of artists
whose work will be on display this Fall, including Francie Bishop Good, Oliver Wasow, Philip
Gould, and other Louisiana-based
artists included in "Face to Face". Additionally, the museum is offering offer a
sneak peek at the exhibitions with two “Behind the Scenes” Artist Talks on September 7 – as a part of the free
Wednesday Nights at the Hilliard
program series, now offered on
a weekly basis starting at 6:00 PM.
Face to Face: A Survey
of Contemporary Portraiture by Louisiana Artists
features work by twelve
nationally and internationally acclaimed artists working in a variety of media.
It includes Willie Birch, Douglas Bourgeois, George Dureau, Elizabeth Kleinveld & Epaul
Julien, Aubrey Edwards, Deborah Luster, Rashaad Newsome, Tameka Norris,
Gina Phillips, Jennifer
Shaw, Jonathan Traviesa,
and Heather Weathers.
This exhibition of visually
powerful and evocative work is accompanied by an essay in which
Miami-based independent curator Jane Hart states: During this
present moment, we are increasingly witness to social
unrest and an escalating violent
state of affairs, both at home and abroad. These disturbing conflicts often can be attributed to a lack of understanding amongst us based upon
ethnicity, race, religion and
other differences. Through depictions of people created by artists, seeing
our shared humanity, we can collectively come together with a greater tolerance and acceptance.
September 9, 2016
– January 7, 2017.l
Francie Bishop Good: Comus explores a hybrid form of portraiture that is
based on an accumulative layering of digital processes and found imagery. Source material for the series originated in the 1942 and 1967
high school senior yearbooks of the artist
and her mother, entitled
“Comus”, from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Comprised of 70 works on canvas, Bishop
Good’s installation of media-saturated
‘paintings’ forge
an intergenerational exchange, as classmates appearing in yearbooks from
the 1940s and 1960s are
merged to encapsulate a new collective identity. This solo
exhibition marks a first in Louisiana for South Florida-based Bishop Good, and was organized by guest curator Jane Hart.
September 9 – December 10, 2016.
Oliver Wasow: Hudson Valley Studio
Portraits. New York based artist Oliver Wasow has
been widely recognized for his
pioneering use of digital compositing to create sublime imaginary landscapes. In this
grouping of recent portraits, Wasow embraces a new approach with his sitters – family, friends
and neighbors – who pose as subjects before a green screen background of virtual
painterly landscapes. The resulting formal, yet intimate
portraits evoke a romanticized patina
of a bygone era. This solo
exhibition marks a first in Louisiana for Upstate New York-based Wasow, and
is organized by guest curator Jane
Hart. September 2, 2016
– January 14, 2017.
Spotlight on the Collection: Portraiture juxtaposes academic
and vernacular art practices, while foregrounding a visual conversation on the
museum’s collection – particularly as a vehicle that illuminates
the unique narratives and cultural histories specific to our region. This provocative exhibition gathers together two 19th century paintings of unnamed
Louisiana women, a ritualistic object,
and
eleven
examples of folk art. It features
pieces by the artists Delaney Burgess, MC "5 Cent" Jones, Jules Lion, Sister Gertrude Morgan,
Sultan Rogers, Adolf Rinck, James "Son" Thomas,
and a ceremonial mask from Mali
in the museum’s permanent collection. This exhibition is organized by Laura Blereau, curator of the Hilliard University Art Museum. August
5 – December 3, 2016.
Cajun Dance Halls
and Zydeco Clubs:
Then and Now is
photographic portrayal, past and
present, of south Louisiana Dance Halls. It combines
the research of two ongoing
projects about the subject: The Center for Louisiana
Studies' Louisiana Dancehalls
Project, directed by John "Pudd" Sharp,
which showcases visual artifacts and
memorabilia from archive; And pictures by Philip Gould that are drawn from his upcoming photography book, Ghosts of Good Time: South Louisiana
Dance Halls Past and Present, published by UL Press. Included in the
exhibit are recent architectural images of clubs, open and closed, as well as a selection from Gould's
four-decade career
documenting Louisiana. Additional archival materials from the Center
for Louisiana Studies come from
a variety of sources including collections by club owners, musicians, family members and patrons. This exhibition is presented in partnership with Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. September 9, 2016 – October 16, 2016.
Acknowledgements
The museum wishes to express gratitude for the support and partnerships that have made this season of exhibitions possible: The Hilliard
Society, Bon Temps Grill, Donner-Peltier Distillers, and
Festivals Acadiens et Créoles.
Upon request,
high-resolution images & biographies are available. Interviews may also
be arranged.
Museum Hours,
Admission & General Information
The Hilliard University Art Museum
is located at 710 East Saint Mary Boulevard, on the campus of
University of Louisiana
at Lafayette. Museum Hours are: Tuesday, Thursday
and Friday, 9:00 AM
to
5:00 PM; Wednesday, 9:00 AM to
8:00 PM; Saturday, 10:00
AM to 5:00 PM; closed
Sunday and Monday. General
Admission: $5 Adults,
$4 Seniors (62+), $3 Students (5-17).
FREE for Members,
UL Students/Staff/Faculty with identification, and visitors under 5. Guided tours of the galleries
are available Friday & Saturday
at 2 PM, complimentary with admission. For general
information, please visit hillliardmuseum.org or call (337) 482-2278.
About the Hilliard
The Hilliard University Art Museum
operates on the campus of University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and was
originally founded in 1964 as the Art Center for Southwest Louisiana. Featuring a
state-of-the-art modern facility that was erected in 2004, the museum houses more than 2,200
objects in its permanent collection, and is the largest art exhibition space between New
Orleans and Houston. The Hilliard
serves a wide range of educational and cultural needs by fostering cross-disciplinary
intellectual discourse on campus, and
throughout the region.
At the core of the Hilliard's mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and
exhibit the art of our time, while celebrating the great
diversity of Louisiana's heritage.
