The Poetics of Transculture

September 9 - October 30, 2009

The Poetics of Transculture is two site-specific installations:

Universal Language: Installation by Franca Marini
A site-specific installation, Universal Language is inspired by the shape of the Queens College Art Center gallery, the importance of written language for human knowledge, and the metaphor of space in libraries. Franca Marini, from Siena, Italy, is a multimedia artist whose work plays with the dimensions of urban lines, landscapes, and transculture. Marini has exhibited extensively in the United States and internationally, and her work is in many collections around the world.

ASTORIA in Poetry and Images: Exile/People/Places: Installation by Nicos Alexiou
Since the 1960s Astoria, Queens, has been home to the largest Greek community outside of Greece. Alexiou’s work speaks to the poetics of Astoria and its influences on Greek American identity. Photographer Sophia Vourdoukis and other Greek American artists parallel Alexiou’s poetry through their own personal documentation of Astoria’s people and places. Nicos Alexiou teaches in the Department of Sociology and The Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at Queens College. This exhibition is cosponsored by The Center for Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies.

The Fairfield Porter Reading Room

May 5 - 22, 2009

The Fairfield Porter Reading Room, an installation by Tara Mathison based on American painter Fairfield Porter's syllabus when he taught at Queens College. The Reading Room is open to the public from 12 pm - 5 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from May 5 through 22, 2009. Reference and online services will be available.

Jonas Angelet and Drew Malcolm: Strange Games: RJA vs. ALM 2

April 2 - May 2, 2009

Features new paintings and prints from Jonas Angelet and Drew Malcolm, two artists interested in different, but similar threads of social issues and contemporary technology culture. Opening with reception and artist talks on April 2, 2009, 5 – 8 PM.

In House: Brouhaha Ritualsy Business

February 19 - March 30, 2009

An Installation by the LLC. The LLC. is collabortively composed of Kassie Asmann-Teng, Erin Jones, Tara Mathison, Jessica Wilson. Other members include Jenny San Martin.

Re:Rebus (Non Verbis Sed Rebus!): Selections from Queens College Art Library Special Collections

March 9 to April 7, 2009

Rebuses received notoriety from the puzzles composed by French clerks at carnivals for satirical current event commentary. Voltaire was said to have exchanged rebuses with Frederick the Great. In approaching rebuses as a means of communicating with other visually-curious people "Re:Rebus" is curator Tara Mathison's response to Muniz's MoMA Rebus, using the permanent special collection of the Queens College Art Library.

Anna Matoušková: Places: Abstract Paintings, Drawings and Glass Sculpture - Homage to Leo Kraft

Wednesday, April 9 – Thursday, July 10, 2008

In Places, the Czech artist Anna Matoušková uses painting, drawing and sculpture to give an objective form to her inner reflections on music by the American composer Leo Kraft. The project began to take shape five years ago, after Matoušková, a Czech artist, and Kraft, an American composer, musical theorist, author and educator, a Professor Emeritus at Queens College, met in Prague. The two spent hours talking about art and music. Through a continuing dialogue, they discovered that while their media and backgrounds differ, their artistic concerns and creative processes are aligned. In discussing and sharing their work, Kraft and Matoušková developed an artistic friendship that bridges age, gender, nationality and artistic discipline. Their mutual appreciation has enriched and inspired each of them.

White Landscape : Drawings by Jin Lee

Thursday February 7- Friday March 28, 2008

In White Landscape, Jin Lee plays with the idea that life forms develop in unexpected ways. Her intricate, semi-abstract paintings and drawings—often composed from thousands of tiny, dot-like marks—appear to be growing and changing as one observes them. Simultaneously microscopic and cosmically huge, these imaginary biomorphic structures suggest undiscovered plants and animals.

Brush with Nature: Installation Art by Barbara Roux

Monday November 5 – Friday December 21, 2007

Barbara Roux is an ecology-based artist and conservationist whose work is influenced by her efforts to protect habitats and record incidents in natural history. She is inspired by her father (a pharmacologist who did research in the Amazon), her own stays in wilderness areas around the world, and her interactions with scientists on plant-related research, natural history and contemporary art . Her installations/pieces employ symbolism and anthropomorphism to evoke a sense of mystery, freshness and recognition, drawing the viewer in by metaphor.

Face to Face: From See to Shining See; Photographs by Sid Kerner

Monday August 27 - Wednesday October 31, 2007

In the Face to Face series, New York City photographer Sid Kerner gives the viewer an opportunity to experience the human side of familiar, everyday objects. Kerner began observing New York City through the eye of the camera in 1937, when he joined the Photo League at age 17.