Duane Hanson
dal 4/2/2004 al 11/4/2004
Segnalato da
4/2/2004
Duane Hanson
Plains Art Museum, Fargo
Portraits from the Heartland - This groundbreaking exhibition of 24 sculptures by famed sculptor Duane Hanson offers a new perspective on the artist and his work. It is the first large-scale exhibition of his work to be displayed so near his birth and burial place and the first to focus primarily on his Midwestern upbringing and its influence on his artistic vision.
Stern, Donath and Schlossman Galleries
Duane Hanson: Portraits from the Heartland - This groundbreaking exhibition of 24 sculptures by famed sculptor Duane Hanson offers a new perspective on the artist and his work. It is the first large-scale exhibition of his work to be displayed so near his birth and burial place and the first to focus primarily on his Midwestern upbringing and its influence on his artistic vision. Hanson was a social realist, looking at a range of people in society and making observations about their condition in life. He recognized and admired ordinary people, like laborers and the elderly, who he believed had been marginalized by society. Through his art he sought to make the general public aware of their presence and contribution to society.
Hanson was born in Alexandria, Minn., and raised in the nearby farming community of Parkers Prairie. This agrarian environment, in which families depended on the land and livestock for sustenance, shaped Hanson's moral character and instilled in him the value of hard work and the importance of community. Hanson recognized both the physical and financial difficulties of those who made a living from physical labor. This background is essential to understanding and interpreting Duane Hanson's sculptures today.
Opening February 5 through April 11, 2004
Hors d'oeuvres, progressive jazz with the FM Jammers with Bill Law, Tom Carvell, David Ferreira and Roger Gress, refreshments, cash bar and gallery talk with Duane Hanson's family members as special guests. Members free, nonmembers $15.
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Plains Art Museum Presents Life-Size
Student Art at Community Locations
Fargo, ND - The Plains Art Museum will coordinate with local educators to present Art Around Town from January 15 through March 28 in conjunction with the Duane Hanson: Portraits from the Heartland life-sized sculpture exhibition. Art teachers are currently working with their students to create life-sized sculptures which will be on exhibit in venues including Zandbroz, Gallery 4, Atomic Coffee and libraries in downtown Fargo and Moorhead, Minn. All sculptures will move to West Acres Regional Shopping Center in Southwest Fargo on March 20 and be on display there until March 28.
High schools involved in the project are North, South and Shanley in Fargo; Youth Education Services in Moorhead; Northern Cass in Cass County, N.D.; and Barnesville and Pelican Rapids in rural Minnesota. Their efforts are coordinated by Sandra Ben-Haim, curator of education at the Museum. Ben-Haim said, 'We presented the Portraits from the Heartland theme to the students but gave them a great deal of leeway in how they interpret that theme. We are excited to see the results of their creativity and share it with the community.'
Adults can also get involved in the Art Around Town exhibition by taking a class called Plains Art Museum Presents Art as a Body-Building Experience offered Saturdays, February 7, 14, 21 and 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. each day. The class is offered through Communiversity and is taught by Ben-Haim. Participants will view and discuss the Duane Hanson exhibition and create a collaborative, life-sized sculpture which will become part of the Art Around Town exhibition. Adults can register through Communiversity at 218/299-3438.
Duane Hanson: Portraits from the Heartland opens February 5 and runs through April 11, 2004, in all three of the Museum's main galleries. This groundbreaking exhibition of 22 'size of life' sculptures by the famed artist offers a new perspective on the artist and his work. It is the first large-scale exhibition of Hanson's work to be displayed so near to the artist's birth place of Alexandria, Minn. It is also the first of its kind to focus primarily on the artist's Midwestern upbringing and its influence on his artistic vision.
Over the course of his career, Hanson created sculptures whose subjects included working-class members of society, influential members of society and children. Their facial expressions are introspective, contemplative and sometimes melancholic. Their clothing and accessories connote a profession or status in society. The exhibition includes sculptures from the collections of Hanson's widow, Wesla Hanson, and collector David Gossoff. The exhibition will travel to four other museum venues.
The Plains Art Museum is located at 704 First Avenue North in Fargo. For more information, call the Museum at 701/232-3821 or visit the Web site at www.plainsart.org. While at the Plains Art Museum, the exhibition is supported by a grant from American Express Company. It is also made possible, in part, by major funding from members of the Plains Art Museum, The McKnight Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Image: Duane Hanson, Man on Mower, 1995, bronze, polychromed in oil, with mixed media and accessories, Edition 2/3. Collection of Mrs. Duane Hanson. © Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA/New York, NY.
Plains Art Museum
PO Box 2338
704 First Avenue North
Fargo, ND 58108
701/232-3821 ext. 121