Category: Past Exhibitions

April 10 –May 16, 2017

Truly a vision of the fantastic, this exhibition is an amazing exploration of both illustrative art and the evolution of the visual landscape of science fiction and fantasy literature. Featuring work by both American and European artists and spanning more than a century, these vivid illustrations bring to life adventures, beings, and worlds conjured in novels such as Don Quixote, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Tarzan, and pulp magazines including Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, and Wonder Stories. Accomplishing far more than simply guiding readers in their explorations of new and sometimes bizarre realms, the range and impact of these illustrations are far-reaching. The exhibition will also include books, pulp magazines, and other items drawn from UMBC’s Rosenfeld Collection, revealing how the illustrations in the Korshak Collection were meant to appear when encountered as artifacts of material culture.

Public Program

Artist’sTalk: Donato Giancola

5:00 p.m.Thursday, May 4, 2017

Award-winning illustrator Donato Giancola, best known for his endlessly creative and exquisitely rendered science fiction and fantasy illustrations, will discuss his broad range of illustrative work. Giancola’s diverse clients include DC Comics; Sci-Fi Channel; Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering); Tor Books; National Geographic, Milton Bradley; Microsoft; Penguin; Random House; Hasbro; Scholastic; Simon & Schuster; The Village Voice; CNN; United Nations; U.S. Postal Service.

Donato Giancola’s website: www.donatoart.com

About the Collection

The illustrations featured in this exhibition are treasured pieces of the Korshak Collection, owned by Stephen Korshak. The love of both literature and art of the science fiction and fantasy genres is a passion Stephen Korshak shared with his father Erle Korshak, a founder of the imprint Shasta Publishers, which specialized in science fiction books. Shasta played a key role in ushering in the transition that saw important science fiction literature move from the pages of magazines printed on cheap pulp paper to hardcover, library-quality books. Much of the illustration art for Shasta publications hung in the Korshak family home and the company office where, as young man, Stephen Korshak encountered it–a fact the now collector cites as inspiring in him a sense of wonder, and a passion for the illustrations of the genre.

Korshak Collection website: www.korshakcollection.com

Installation Views

January 30, 2017 – March 26, 2017

Altered State: Painting Myanmar in a Time of Transition presents paintings by 36 contemporary artists from Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma. Created following the transition period of 2011, when a military-backed civilian government replaced oppressive rule by military junta and the country once famous for its seclusion re-entered the world stage, the paintings illustrate current artistic practice in Myanmar and present a series of creative viewpoints on a rapidly changing society.Paintings included in Altered State: Painting Myanmar in a Time of Transition are from the collection of contemporary Myanmar paintings of Ian Holliday, the Vice President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) at the University of Hong Kong. Presentation of the exhibition at UMBC is supported in part by an arts program grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from the Friends of the Library & Gallery, the Libby Kuhn Endowment, and individual contributions.

Public Program

4:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Myanmar: Perspectives on a Society in Transition

Christina Fink, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, George Washington University

Myanmar has been undergoing profound political, economic, and social change. Throughout this process, the military leadership and political parties have both cooperated and competed in their efforts to impose their vision for the future. Meanwhile, citizens have sought to take advantage of greater freedoms and opportunities, while also re-imagining their country’s identity and place in the world.

Professor Christina Fink is a cultural anthropologist who has combined teaching, research, and development work throughout her career. Her areas of expertise are Burma/Myanmar in particular and Southeast Asia more broadly, equitable development, gender and development, civil society in ethnically diverse states. She received her B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social/Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught at the Elliot School for International Affairs at George Washington University since 2011. She served as a visiting lecturer at the Pacific and Asian Studies Department at the University of Victoria in 1995, and from 2001-2010, she was a lecturer and program associate at the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute in Thailand.

Installation Views

September 15 – December 16, 2016

All of the forces that contributed to making UMBC– from emerging as a need triggered by the post-World War II baby boom to becoming a higher education ideal conceptualized by Chancellor Albin O. Kuhn– converged on September 19, 1966, with the commencement of the first classes. This exhibition tells some of the many stories of the university’s exciting beginning and continuing development through items selected from UMBC’s University Archives including photographs, documents, objects, books and ephemera.

This exhibition tells some of the many stories of the university’s exciting beginning and continuing development through items selected from UMBC’s University Archives including photographs, documents, objects, books and ephemera.

Monday, 3:30 p.m.

September 19, 2016

Exhibition Tour​: Chief Curator Tom Beck & Archivist Lindsey Loeper

April 25 – June 30, 2016

The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery presents ​The Glass Knife​, curated by artists Stephen Bradley and Kathy Marmor, on display April 25 through June 30. The exhibition reflects on the work of Keith Porter, known as the “father of cell biology,” the title referring to the sharp wedged-shaped glass tool used by Porter to prepare tissue samples. Dr. Keith Porter was the chair of the UMBC Department of Biology from 1984 to 1988, and was one of the first scientists to study whole cells with the electron microscope. At the RockefellerInstitute, he produced the first image of an intact cell, made possible by his development of an innovative slicing technique and specimen preparation for viewing and photographing with the electron microscope. His in-depth experience in experimental embryology and histology, along with his talent to interpret these highly magnified images, enabled him to infer the functional activities of cell organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum (which he discovered and named)and microtubules. Porter was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1977.

Public Program

4:00 p.m.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Artist’s Talk​: Stephen Bradley and Kathy Marmor

Media artists Bradley and Marmor have structured their installation to illuminate Keith Porter’s life-long relationship with the micro world of cells. ​The Glass Knife​ integrates select elements from Porter’s archive to build a unified series of sculptures that allude to Porter’s workstation that “sees” the cell and its organelles and the potential applications that Porter imagined. With The Glass Knife​, Bradley and Marmor propose a model of imagination that embraces a vision mediated by technology that extends our seeing. The artists as curators offer metaphoric insight into Porter’s scientific inquiry made possible with his ground-breaking use of the electron microscope that changed the world of cellular science. “He had an almost uncanny ability to look at static electron monographs of cells and ‘see’ what the cell was doing, or at least what it was equipped to do.” – Dr. Lee D. Peachey

Audio

Sound composition created from recoding the electromagnetic signals emitted by an operational electron microscope that Keith Porter used while he was at UMBC in the 1980s. Presented as a multi-channel sound installation in the Glass Knife, comprised of 3 DIY parabolic speakers, mp3 players, amplifier.

Installation Views

Audio

Public Program

4:00 p.m. Tuesday

February 16, 2016

Artist’s Talk​: Timothy Nohe

Timothy Nohe​ is an artist and educator engaging traditional and electronic media in daily life and public places. His artwork has been focused on sustainability and place, intermedia works, and sound scores for dance and video. Nohe was the recipient of a 2006 Fulbright Senior Scholar Award from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission Fulbright Alumni InitiativeGrant in 2011. Four Maryland State Arts Council awards have supported his work in the area of music Composition, Non-Classical; Media; New Genre, and Installation/Sculpture. Nohe has also been recognized with a Creative Baltimore Award. In 2015 the Warnock Foundation recognized his interdisciplinary work in urban forests with a Social Innovator award. He is the founding director of the Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA) and a tenured professor of Visual Arts at UMBC. Nohe has strong ties to Australia, where he serves as an adjunct Professor at La Trobe University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; as an artist in Residence at the Centre for Creative Arts at La Trobe University, and on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Unlikely, based in Melbourne.

The presentation of this exhibition at UMBC is supported in part by an arts program grant fromthe Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the NationalEndowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from Friends of the Library & Gallery, theLibby Kuhn Endowment, the Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA),the Dresher Center for the Humanities and individual contributors.Support for the ongoing artistic research project ​Sounding Botany Bay​ comes from theAustralian-American Fulbright Commission, and the University of Wollongong.

August 26 – December 16, 2015

When the United States entered into World War II, it was with a sense of moral duty that many men entered the fight; Walter Rosenblum (1919-2006) was one of them. As a U.S. Army combat photographer Rosenblum landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, then traveled throughout Europe with various combat units. Documenting the war under extremely dangerous conditions, he secured the surrender of 75 German troops, was wounded in combat, and took some of the first motion picture footage of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. Rosenblum was one of the most decorated WWII photographers, awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, five battle stars, the Purple Heart, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

Curated by Manuela Fugenzi, produced by Studio Zizola, Rome, and Daedalus Productions, Inc., New York.

Public Programs

12:00 noon
Film Screening
Walter Rosenblum: In Search of Pitt Street

6:00 p.m.
Talk
Nina Rosenblum
Film Producer, Daedalus Productions, Inc.

Installation Views

April 8 – June 30, 2015

The work of Abbott Miller merges graphic design and typography with spatial design, interactive media, and curatorial projects. Through design and art direction as well as writing and curating, Miller’s work embraces exhibitions, digital media, environmental graphics, textiles, identities and publication design. Trained as an artist and designer, Miller’s projects reflect his interests in art, performance, photography, fashion, architecture, and history. This exhibition is based on his recently published monograph “Abbott Miller: Design and Content” (Princeton Architectural Press, 2014). The book argues that designers inhabit a critical space between form and content. Miller sees the role of the designer as a performer and interpreter, using words and images to dramatically stage content. He has collaborated with renowned artists, performers, and curators to create publications, digital media, and exhibitions that dramatically embody their content. He has also written extensively on design and the role of the designer as an author and editor, a figure who mediates and shapes narrative environments, whether in the space of a book or an exhibition.

Abbott Miller is a partner in the New York City office of the international design studioPentagram. Since 2000 he has also maintained a satellite studio in Baltimore, where he also serves as a Visiting Artist in the MFA Graphic Design program at Maryland Institute College of Art. He is the author and editor of several books on design, including Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design, co-authored with Ellen Lupton. In 2014 Miller was awarded the AIGAMedal, his profession’s highest honor. His work has won numerous awards and is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Bibliotheques National de Paris.

Installation Views

January 26 – March 25, 2015

The history of American slavery is considered in ​A Stirring Song Sung Heroic​, an exhibition of 80 black and white silver gelatin prints by photographer William Earle Williams. These images document mostly anonymous, unheralded, and uncelebrated places in the New World – from the Caribbean to North America – where Americans black and white determined the meaning of freedom. Archives of prints, newspapers, and other ephemera related to the struggle accompany the work. The presentation of this exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which abolished slavery nationwide following the conclusion of the American Civil War.

William Earle Williams is the Audrey and John L. Dusseau Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Fine Arts, and Curator of Photography at Haverford College. He received his M.F.A. degree from Yale University School of Art and holds a B.A. in history from Hamilton College. His photographs have been widely exhibited at diverse institutions including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and UMBC. His work is held in many public collections including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and UMBC’s Special Collections. Williams has also received numerous fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for 2003 – 2004.

Public Program

4:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Artist’s Talk​: William Earle Williams

The lecture, co-sponsored by the Dresher Center the Humanities and the Library Gallery, will be presented as part of the Humanities Forum.

August 27 – December 17, 2014

Victoria Sambunaris received her MFA from Yale University in 1999. Each year, she structures her life around a photographic journey crossing the American landscape. Her most recent project has been working in South Texas photographing the intersection of geology, industry, and culture encompassing the international boundary and energy industry. She is a recipient of the 2010 Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship and the 2010Anonymous Was a Woman Award. Her work is held in the collections of the Museum of ModernArt, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the National Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of modern Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and the Lannan Foundation. Radius Books published her first monograph in April 2014.

Victoria Sambunaris has traversed and documented the vast United States landscape for more than a decade, viewing the intersection of geology, industry, and culture, as both a record and a metaphor for the American experience.

In ​Taxonomy of a Landscape​, forty-one of the artist’s large-scale photographs reveal the mystery and unease of a country where human intervention and natural beauty inspire wonder in equal measure, while additional materials – video, books, maps, mineral specimens, journals, road logs, and photographic sketches – provide an intimate view of the artist’s life and work on the road.

Public Program

4:00 p.m. Wednesday

October 8, 2014

Artist’s Talk​: Victoria Sambunaris

Installation Views

The exhibition ​Victoria Sambunaris: Taxonomy of a Landscape​ originated at the Albright-KnoxArt Gallery in Buffalo, New York and was organized by Christie Mazuera Davis, ProgramDirector, Contemporary Art and Public Programs at the Lannan Foundation, and Albright-KnoxCurator for the Collection Holly E. Hughes. The Museum of Contemporary Photography atColumbia College Chicago’s presentation and subsequent tour of ​Victoria Sambunaris: Taxonomy of a Landscape​ has been generously supported by the Lannan Foundation, SantaFe, New Mexico.

The presentation of ​Victoria Sambunaris: Taxonomy of a Landscape​ at UMBC is supported in part by an arts program grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from the Lannan Foundation, Friends of the Library & Gallery, the Libby Kuhn Endowment, and individual contributors.

 April 7 – May 31, 2014 

Conceived of as a global conversation about truth and lies held through the medium of works of art and poetry, Butler invited artists to use the lie to explore our relationship with the truth. Book of Lies examines the lie as a human strategy using examples drawn from life situations including childhood, love, and war. Seventy-eight artists responded to these questions in unique and provocative ways, resulting in a body of work curated by Butler and Corazon del Sol titled Book of Lies. 

Book of Lies is curated by Corazon del Sol and circulated by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions, Pasadena, California. 

Public Program

6:00 pm Wednesday

April 16, 2014

Examining the Book of Lies: Truth, Lies and the Construction of Reality

Corazon del Sol, Artist and Curator

Reception to follow.

This event is free and open to the public.

Exhibition View