By Darryl Geddes
Ten artists from this year's Reunion classes are exhibiting their work at the second annual Cornell alumni art exhibition through June 14 in the John Hartell Gallery in Sibley Hall.
The public is invited to attend an opening reception Friday, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the gallery. In addition, Franklin W. Robinson, director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, will present a public gallery talk at the exhibition on Saturday at 3 p.m.
More than 30 works -- most of which are for sale -- are being exhibited at the alumni show, representing a wide range of artistic talent in various media, from watercolor and oil to computer graphics and web page design.
"We're delighted to have such a varied show," said Jean Locey, professor and chair of Cornell's Department of Art. "It's important for us to showcase the work of our successful alumni."
One contributor, Sandra Albert Wittow '56, has artwork hanging in the Denver
Art Museum, the University of Colorado and in numerous private collections. "I've
been
very fortunate to have been able to continue painting since graduating from
Cornell," said Wittow, who graduated with a BFA.
Her greatest source of influence, she said, was a former professor at Cornell, novelist Vladimir Nabokov. "I learned from his ideas, his attention to detail and his devotion to research," said Wittow, speaking from her home in Englewood, Colo. A Nabokov portrait is one of four pieces Wittow has submitted for the alumni art exhibition.
Wittow's former classmate Barbara Erdman '56 also is exhibiting her work, which includes mixed media monoprints. "This will be the first time I've exhibited at Cornell since I was a student," she said recently. Erdman, who makes her home in Sante Fe, N. M., has had solo exhibitions at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Center for the Arts, Sante Fe Center for Photography and Aspen Institute. In 1994, her show titled "Mathematical Models & Other Matters" was featured at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.
Nina Sobell '71, from New York City, is an artist who first began to use
electronics when she videotaped participants' undi
rected interactions with her giant movable sculptures for her master's thesis at Cornell.
Her work in the field since has included an interactive public-access video/EEG
interface and a public-access videophone interface, the installation of a matrix of
oscillating cameras in a New York City storefront, and a network of kiosks in Manhattan
incorporating the World Wide Web. Her exhibit at Cornell -- "Artistheatre: Sculpture
Performance Archives" -- is being presented
online, with a computer connection to the Web via Netscape.
Also featured are:
·From the Class of 1971 -- Leslie K. Brill of Brooklyn; Joel S. Carreiro of Upper Nyack, N.Y.; Lisa Romm of Brooktondale, N.Y.; and Nina G. Schwartz of Alexandria, Va.
·From the Class of 1966 -- Elizabeth Roubloff Zeisler of Potomac, Md.
·From the Class of 1961 -- Margaret Doorey Hepburn of Sussex, England; and Karl Rosenberg of Brooklyn.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, June 9, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.