SoFA Gallery showcases Iraq images, rapid prototyping art, screenprints during ArtsWeek
As part of Indiana University's Arts Week (Feb. 19-March 1), IU's School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery offers three upcoming shows: photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson's "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," images chronicling America's early battles in Iraq and leading up to the country's first national elections; "Rendering and Meaning, Infinite Speed, Zero Errors & Total Memory: Creativity and Desire in the Digital Age," a collection of traditional ceramics and pieces that explores rapid prototyping technology by Malcolm Mobutu-Smith and Anton Rejinders; and "Mille-fleurs" by Eva Wylie, a collection of screenprints that combines the natural world and the constructed environment. All three shows open Feb. 24 and run through March 13.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Ashley Gilbertson
"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" contains 10 selected images from Gilbertson's book Whiskey, Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War. An award-winning photographer for the New York Times, Newsweek and Time, among other publications, Gilbertson will discuss his exhibition and related book during a lecture Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. in Radio/TV 251. The lecture will be followed by a book signing and opening reception for the exhibition at the SoFA Gallery.
An image from "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," a new SoFA Gallery exhibit featuring photographs by Ashley Gilbertson
While he's in town, Gilbertson will visit Associate Professor Steve Raymer's "Media Ethics and Values" class at the School of Journalism to talk about his experience being embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq. He'll also talk about one of the most tragic moments in the media coverage of that war, when a U.S. Marine was killed during a fire fight in Fallujah while trying to help Gilbertson get a photo. "That's a lot to have on your conscience, and he's talked about it a lot," Raymer said.
The "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" exhibition features photographs chronicling America's early battles in Iraq, the initial occupation of Baghdad, the insurgency that erupted shortly afterward, the dramatic battle to overtake Fallujah, and, ultimately, the country's first national elections. This wide-ranging chronicle of the war from the viewpoint of the photographer is the first of its kind. Gilbertson's narratives convey the exhilaration and terror of photographing war, as well as the challenges of photojournalism in this age of embedded reporting.
Described as "harrowing snaphots of the American soul," Whiskey, Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War was chosen as a "Best Book of 2007" by Amazon.com.
"Ash Gilbertson and his work follow in the tradition of Robert Capa, the most famous war photographer of the 20th century," said Raymer. "It's no surprise that Gilbertson has been awarded the Robert Capa gold medal by the Overseas Press Club of America for his work in Iraq. Ash gets close, like Capa, and brings a compassionate eye to the dirty business of war."
Rendering and Meaning, Infinite Speed, Zero Errors & Total Memory: Creativity and Desire in the Digital Age, Anton Rejinders and Malcom Mobutu-Smith
"Rendering and Meaning, Infinite Speed, Zero Errors & Total Memory: Creativity and Desire in the Digital Age," by Anton Rejinders and Malcom Mobutu-Smith, explores rapid prototyping, digital technology and traditional ceramics forms. The exhibition was funded by a New Frontiers Visionary Scholar Grant through the IU Office of Vice Provost for Research. A gallery talk is scheduled for Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at SoFA Gallery and followed by a reception that evening from 7 to 9 p.m. at SoFA Gallery.
Mobutu-Smith is an associate professor of ceramic art at IU, and Rejinders is a ceramicist who lives and works in the Netherlands. One of Mobutu-Smith's graduate students, Shu-Mei Chan, brought the two artists together. She had worked with Rejinders at Alfred University at New York State College of Ceramics, where Smith attended graduate school. Smith says Chan knew of his interests in creative thinking, ceramics and computer technology and his interest in applying for the New Frontiers Visionary Scholar Grant.
"Rejinders falls into an interesting category of artist/philosopher -- he had recently published a book called The Ceramic Process, which is a comprehensive look at the field of ceramics, including its methods and philosophies," said Mobutu-Smith. "Chan felt there would be a common language between us. She ultimately helped craft the grant proposal."
"Rendering and Meaning" is the result of exploring "intersections and cross communications between new and traditional methods of ceramic building," said Mobutu-Smith. "I explored the intuitive possibilities of making within a computer-aided design environment while Anton parsed up the meaning vagaries of creating in the rule-governed realm of software and layered printing."
Mille-fleurs, Eva Wylie
Eva Wylie is a lecturer at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, where she received her master's degree in fine arts. Her exhibition, "Mille-fleurs," is a collection of screenprints -- some printed directly on the wall and others on fabric and cut paper. Wylie uses installation to create blended compositions and three-dimensional prints of images from the Internet, commercial sources and personal photographs she took as a tourist.
"I am interested in the ways the natural world filters into constructed environments. I juxtapose organic imagery with images that intimate how humanity and its detritus merge into the natural world," said Wylie.
This piece is a detail of a larger topiary form that will be printed directly on the wall of the gallery.
"I use the language of printmaking to address the practice of mass production," she said. "Using a four-color separation silkscreen process reflects photographic reduplication, an intrinsic element of contemporary mass culture. Working directly on the wall and windows of the gallery space and constructing mixed media installations allows me to integrate the work into the architecture of the space." Wylie will lecture at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 in Woodburn Hall 101, followed by an opening reception at SoFA Gallery.
For more information, contact the SoFA Gallery at 812-855-8490 or send e-mail to sofa@indiana.edu. The SoFA Gallery is accessible to people with disabilities. Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. For more information about the SoFA Gallery, see http://sofa.fa.indiana.edu.
