Detail View: University Art Galleries (UMassD): Balance

Science, Religion, Art: Greater New Bedford Area Artists Responding to JOHANN JACOB SCHEUCHZER's "PHYSICA SACRA"

December 31, 2007 to January 10, 2008

2007; 2008

University Art Gallery (UMass Dartmouth Galleries)

Lasse B. Antonsen

The University Art Gallery at UMass Dartmouth continues its exhibition season with Science, Religion, Art: Greater New Bedford Area Artists Responding to Johann Jacob Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra, 1731-35. The exhibition will be on view from November 3, 2007 through January 10, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, November 3, from 3-5pm. Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, was born in Zurich in 1672. A lifelong scholar, Scheuchzer's pursuits of knowledge were wide-ranging and diverse, from science to medicine to paleontology. Like many scientists of the late 17th and early 18th century, Scheuchzer held to the belief that the Old Testament was a factual account of the history of the earth. In his masterpiece, Physica Sacra, he would reference the 1611 King James Bible version with recent discoveries in the natural sciences. This work was unique because its investigation of the relationship between science and religion was presented within the framework of the current state of the visual arts--illustrated with inventive copper plate engravings by well-known artists such as Corvinus, Sperling and Linz. In a period before public museums, Scheuchzer presented a seductive view of an imaginary world, viewed through lush frames depicting secondary symbols, plants, animals, heads and other objects, providing the viewer rich material for an inspired vision of the interaction between the natural and the divine powers. This exhibition presents the work of sixteen artists from the greater New Bedford area, invited to respond to those aspects of Scheuchzer's work which fascinated them the most. The exhibition includes artists working in materials such as textile, metal, clay and wood, and includes work in the areas of installation, sculpture, painting, drawing, furniture and flower arrangement. The gallery has invited several former UMass Dartmouth graduate students who now reside permanently in the area to participate in the exhibition. The artists featured are: Sue Aygarn-Kowalski, John Borowicz, Margie Butler, Chad Frownfelter, Michael Hecht, Pat Kellogg, Roger Kizik, Sarah Martin, Elin Noble, Dianne Reilly, William Shattuck, Nicole St.Pierre, Kathy Tracy, Jane Tuckerman, Joyce Utting Schutter and Ann Wood. Noted science writer, Dorion Sagan, has written an introductory essay, "The Sacred Physics of Johann Jacob Scheuchzer," which will be on display as a wall text in the gallery during the exhibition. The University Art Gallery is located in the Star Store Campus of UMass Dartmouth at 715 Purchase Street, New Bedford. The gallery is open daily from 9am-6pm. All exhibitions and events are free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact Lasse Antonsen, Director, University Art Gallery, at (508) 999-8555, or lantonsen@umassd.edu.

metalword

painting

sculpture

wood

http://www1.umassd.edu/calendar/?ek=11291

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photographs

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UMass Dartmouth Art Galleries

Aygarn-Kowalski, Sue

American

Artist statement: My work takes the form of functional tools for the hand in metal, wood, and plastic. They are an argument for aesthetic experience over speed and efficiency, for skill over blind use, for self-reliance over dependencies, and for an absolute love of process. Like bookends, ideas concerning the hand and the informing sense of touch act as a nurturing cradle for my work. The objects I make result from my need to live actively, physically, and tactilely in an increasingly computerized world, and I offer my work as a counterpoint to digital culture. I believe that through the combination of hand and mind the most powerful resource in the evolution of humans emerged - the ability to fabricate and to use tools. The result was and continues to be, the ability to affect, guide, and in large degrees to control (for better or worse) the conditions that make up both our physical and social environments. This belief drives my artistic desire to celebrate the direct, self-informing, and tactile relationship between hand, tool and user.

http://sueaygarnkowalski.com/resume.html

Balance

cooper, sterling and steel

metalwork

2008

art

religion

science

http://sueaygarnkowalski.com/img/sculpture/s23.html

2013

BC