September 9 – October 24, 1999
Beaver College Art Gallery
The Beaver College Art Gallery is pleased to present its biennial “Works on Paper” exhibition, a juried show this year featuring 31 area artists, from September 9 through October 24, 1999. This year’s exhibition was selected by James Elaine, Artist and Curator of Contemporary Projects, UCLA Hammer Museum, (formerly Curator of Contemporary Exhibitions/Viewing Program Coordinator, The Drawing Center, New York).
The exhibition opens with a reception on Tuesday, September 14 at 6:30 PM beginning with a lecture by Museum of Modern Art Department of Drawing Curator Laura Hoptman to be presented at Beaver’s Stiteler Auditorium, directly adjacent to the gallery.
Elaine chose 34 works from 710 entries submitted by a record total of 371 regional artists. The artists–both emerging and established–are Susan Arthur, Joe Begonia, Matt Bergen, Randy Bolton, Marina Borker, Astrid Bowlby, Mark Campbell, Geoffrey DeMasi, Kevin Finklea, Alan Goldstein, Richard Harrod, Joseph Ives, Leroy Johnson, Brad Kalin (North Wales), David Kettner (Melrose Park), Deborah Kogan (Wyndmoor), Rodger LaPelle, Joanne Maynard (Doylestown), Jeremiah Misfeldt, Joseph Moser (Oreland), Steve Riedell, Scott Rigby, Paco Rodriguez, Judith Taylor, Geri Tuckett, Buy Shaver, Nancy Sophy, Kevin Strickland, Anne Seidman, Matt Wine (Melrose Park), Barbara Woodall and Base Kamp–a collaborative, not-for-profit studio/gallery run by David Dempewolf, Justine Matherly, Scott Rigby. (Unless otherwise indicated, all the artists listed reside in Philadelphia.)
Beaver’s “Works on Paper” exhibition remains one of the few juried shows in the area selected from actual artworks, as opposed to 35mm slides. This year’s show, while presenting a range of media–including photography, collage, and text-based conceptual projects–celebrates the formal economy of drawing and the virtues of paper as material support. Examples of interest include David Kettner’s graphic analysis of a child’s depiction of his father, spectral abstractions in oilstick and walnut oil by Alan Goldstein and Nancy Sophy, Steve Riedell’s spiralling discs of collaged song lyrics, and Joe Begonia’s graphite abstractions inspired by loudspeaker designs. A nocturnal,
suburban malaise emerges as the theme of works by Susan Arthur, Matt Bergen, and Mark Campbell. Base Kamp’s Failed Attempt at Shameless Self Promotion is a topical exercise documenting the artists’ ironic and exploitative encounters with Vito Acconci, Kiki Smith, and Sol LeWitt at recent Philadelphia receptions for these “famous artists.”
Laura Hoptman’s lecture will place Beaver’s “Works on Paper” show in a broader, contemporary context. Scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM on September 14th in Stiteler Auditorium, it is entitled “Drawing is a Noun: Working on Paper Today” and will address those factors Hoptman believes distinguish current drawing from work made as recently as 15 years ago. Hoptman’s curatorial endeavors at MoMA include “Sight Gags: Grotesque, Caricature, and Wit in Modern and Contemporary Drawing,” “Drawing on Chance,” and highly acclaimed shows for MoMA’s “Projects” series featuring Maurizio Cattelan, John Currin, Elizabeth Peyton, and Luc Tuymans.
A public reception for the participating artists will commence in the gallery immediately following the lecture.
Over the course of the exhibition, over $1,200 in cash will be awarded to five participating artists, including the Mildred Bougher Award ($500) and the Beaver College purchase award ($300). In addition, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will select a work for consideration for its permanent collection. All exhibiting artists also become eligible for inclusion in the gallery’s biennial “Closer Look” series. These group shows–each selected by an independent regional curator–feature 3 to 5 artists in greater depth while highlighting thematic relationships among their works.
The 1999 “Works on Paper” exhibition is supported by grants from the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Friends and Advisory Board of Beaver College Art Gallery.
