Upcoming Exhibitions
Recent Exhibitions
Publications
Exhibitions
Upcoming Exhibitions
Conley Harris, Bright Crimsom Skies, 2006-7
oil on canvas, 56" x 56", courtesy of the artist
and Victoria Munroe Fine Art, Boston
September 6 – October 22, 2008
Reception: Friday, September 5, 5-7 p.m.
Conley Harris, a Boston artist and former University of New Hampshire art faculty member, has long been known for his lush paintings of the landscape. The twenty works in this exhibition reveal the artist's interest in Persian and Indian miniatures.
Theatrical sensibility provides Harris's works with an intensity and power that transcend time and place. Using the lively color and dramatic staging of Hindu court narrative as a springboard, he gives voice to his own passion for a lush, imagined landscape. By incorporating the conventional poses and gestures of Hindu deities and dancers into this exploration of landscape, the formal gardens of the distant past are animated—bringing them into the present for our consideration.
Beginning his career as chief scene painter for the Santa Fe Opera Company during the 1970s, Harris is a former faculty member of the Department of Art and Art History at UNH. He is well-known for his lyrical landscapes of New England and the American West. Upon traveling to the Japan and India, he began collecting antique Rajput, Pahari, and Mughal drawings used as preparatory studies for miniature paintings which he used as a source of inspiration. His drawings from the 17 th - and 18-th century courts and kingdoms of the Indian sub-continent now serve as a source of inspiration for his paintings and drawings. Writing about his work, Harris has stated: “In these fantastical landscapes, I have altered, enlarged, and restaged details from favorite miniatures. A playful energy gathers as figures spring into action—whether it be dancing late into the night, archers pursuing their daring ambitions, or horsemen exploring the rolling landscape. These figures are personal to me, drawn from the past and now part of an imagined world that I find compelling.”
Conley Harris: Lyrical Tableaux was organized and circulated by the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, Mass. Following its showing at the Museum of Art, UNH, Durham, New Hampshire, it will travel to the University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery in Knoxville, TN (November 21 – December 19, 2008).
Craig Hood, Chiminea, 2008, oil on canvas 40" x 54"
Art Faculty Review: Benjamin Cariens, Brian Chu, Craig Hood, and Maryse Searls McConnell
September 6 – October 22, 2008
Reception: Friday, September 5, 5-7 p.m.
Each year the Museum of Art highlights work by the studio art faculty members in the Department of Art and Art History who are new or returning from sabbatical leave. This exhibition features recent work by Benjamin Cariens (sculpture), Brian Chu (painting), Craig Hood (painting and drawing), and Maryse Searls McConnell (sculpture and drawing).
An associate professor of drawing and painting at UNH, Brian Chu is a graduate of Queens College (B.F.A., 1971; M.F.A., 1973). His paintings focus on differences found in color, surface, light, and space. As a result of his exploring these differences, his images become understated references, rather than realistic representation of his subjects.
Craig Hood is a graduate of Boston University (B.A., 1975), Pennsylvania State University (B.A., 1979), and Indiana University (M.F.A., 1981). A professor of painting and drawing at UNH since 1981, Hood's work examines the role of the human figure as a narrative image within a fragmented landscape.
Maryse Searls McConnell, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art (B.F.A., 1971) and Alfred University (M.F.A., 1973), has served as an associate professor of art at UNH since 1973. Her works showcase the dichotomy of the creative process she employs—in her work in clay, she intuitively builds complex, non-representational studies and reliefs, while in her abstract drawings, she develops dream-like content and symbolism from man-made and natural images.
Carl Chiarenza, Peace Warrior 51
2003, gelatin silver print
November 1 – December 15, 2008 (closed November 11 and 26-30)
Reception: Friday, October 31, 5-7 p.m.
The preeminent American photographer Carl Chiarenza (b. 1935) has influenced not only the practice of art but also the study and promotion of photography inside academia and beyond. This exhibition features 24 photographs from two recent series of abstract works—Peace Warriors (2003) and Solitudes (2004)—inspired in part by the artist's reactions to the war in Iraq.
This exhibition was organized and circulated by the University of Richmond Museums, VA.
Gabriel Laderman, This HappensGabriel Laderman: Unconventional Realist
November 1 – December 15, 2008 (closed November 11 & 26-30)
Reception: Friday, October 31, 5-7 p.m.
The exhibition will premiere at the University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA, from August 15 – October 12, 2008. It will travel to four other locations: the Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (November 1 – December 15, 2008); the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO (January 23 – March 15, 2009); the New York Academy of Art, New York, NY (March 31 – April 28, 2009); and the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA (September 4 – October 25, 2009).
Jointly organized and circulated by the University of Virginia Art Museum and the Museum of Art at UNH. The exhibition and catalogue were made possible by generous gifts from Allison and Donald Innes, Ruth Cross, Richard and Melissa Spurzem, an anonymous donor, and the Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco. Its showing at the University of New Hampshire is supported in part by a grant from The FEDCO Charitable Foundation and contributions from the Friends of the Museum of Art.
Drawing the Line
January 24 - April 8, 2009 (closed March 13-22)
Reception: Friday, January 23, 5-7 p.m.
This exhibition invites viewers to take a closer look at drawings. It examines the range of media, techniques, subjects, and styles that can be found in drawings from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. From representational to abstract, the selected images demonstrate the artists' mastery in the use of materials such as graphite, charcoal, Conté crayon, pastel, ink, and paint. Drawn primarily from the collection of the Museum of Art at UNH, the exhibition was curated by Debbie Disston, director of the McIninch Gallery at Southern NH University.
Terence Gravett, Tivoli Bust, 2006
Screenprint, Belfast Print WorkshopRenewal: Printmakers from the New Northern Ireland
January 24 - April 8, 2009 (closed March 13-22)
Reception: Friday, January 23, 5-7 p.m.
A decade after the end of sectarian violence, this exhibition highlights the work of eighteen contemporary printmakers and defines the unusual circumstances of the current cultural and economic renaissance in Northern Ireland. Selected from the Belfast Print Workshop and the Seacourt Print Workshop, the works are diverse and deeply personal expressions by artists who have indeed contributed to the cultural renewal of their country.
The exhibition tour is organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C., in conjunction with Belfast Print Workshop, Seacourt Print Workshop, and The Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Its showing in Durham is funded in part by the S. Melvin and Mary Jo Rines Art Exhibition Fund and contributions from the Friends of the Museum of Art.
2009 Senior B.A. and B.F.A. Exhibition
April 18 – May 23, 2009
Reception: Friday, April 17, 6-8 p.m.
This annual exhibition celebrates the achievements of graduating art students from the University of New Hampshire's Department of Art and Art History.
2009 M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition (I)
April 18 – May 4, 2009
Reception: Friday, April 17, 6-8 p.m.
Two candidates for the University of New Hampshire's Master of Fine Arts degree in painting program showcase work representing the culmination of their two-year program.
2009 M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition (II)
May 9 – 23, 2009
Reception: Friday, May 8, 5-7 p.m.
Two candidates for the University of New Hampshire's Master of Fine Arts degree in painting program showcase work representing the culmination of their two-year program.
Our exhibitions and programs are supported in part by the Friends of the Museum of Art .