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  • The Night Sea Journey – An Artist Talk by Associate Professor Kimberly Callas

    Associate Professor Kimberly Callas will give an artist talk on the artwork she created during a two-year Monmouth Fellowship, where she served as the artist-in-residence for the Urban Coast Institute. During the fellowship, Callas created a series of large-scale (10′) drawings that connect images of the ocean, ocean archetypes, and the human body. Inspired by historical nautical charts hand-drawn and mounted on muslin, Callas’ drawings are made of graphite, dye, and India ink on paper and dyed muslin. They are then mounted on canvas. In the drawings, Callas uses latitude, longitude lines, and depth charts to ‘specifically place’ the work in places that follow the Right Whales’ annual migration through the Jersey Shore. The drawings include symbols like the Whale, Fish, Boat, Net, and Horizon Line, and archetypes like ‘the night sea journey,’ a journey navigated by stars to a new shore.

    Kimberly Callas is a multi-media artist, sculptor, and the lead artist of the Social Practice project Discovering the Ecological Self. She uses digital emerging technologies with traditional hand and clay modeling techniques to create life-size figures that combine the human body with symbols and patterns from nature. The figures are drawn or cast in plaster or bronze, 3D printed or routed out of wood with a CNC. Ground pigments, beeswax, and natural materials such as wasp paper or birch bark are often used to finish the work.

    Her work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums and has received national and international grants and awards. Recent awards include a Pollination Project Grant, an Urban Coast Artist-in-Residence, and a Monmouth University Faculty Fellowship. In 2020, she received 1st Place Award in Sculpture at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s Annual Exhibit in New York City. Other recent exhibits include the 2019 International New Media Exhibit at the CICA Museum in South Korea, Summer Exhibition at Flowers Gallery in New York City, 9×12 at Dual Galleria in Budapest, Hungary and Crossing Boundaries: Art and the Future of Energy at The Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL. Her work has been published in Post Human, New Media Art 2020 by CICA Press and has appeared in the Huffington Post and Art New England. Callas received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art and her BFA from Stamps School of Art at the University of Michigan. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, NJ and maintains a studio in both Maine and New Jersey.

    ***This lecture can also be viewed virtually through Zoom – please CLICK HERE to register to receive the zoom link***

     

  • Eileen Sackman: The Elephant in the Room

    The Elephant in the Room calls attention to threatened and endangered animals, encapsulating their expressive nature through emotional representation. By addressing the “elephant in the room” these wood fired portrait-esque pieces bring awareness to species that have been brought to the brink of extinction due to human interference and have been forever impacted by these interactions.

    Illustrated Lecture: Thursday, February 2 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. | Great Hall Auditorium
    Reception follows in the Ice House Gallery from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

  • Piano Parts Homage to Harold and Collages

    Piano Parts Homage to Harold and Collages is the newest collection of work from Professor Vincent DiMattio. DiMattio has been a professor in the Art & Design department for over 50 years and is retiring this spring. DiMattio received his Master’s in Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University and his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art. He joined Monmouth’s faculty in 1968, where he served as department chair and as gallery director for more than 20 years. He is credited with starting the gallery program at Monmouth University.

    DiMattio has had his work shown internationally in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and in the United States. His work has also been show in the Newark and Trenton Museums. In 1999, selections from DiMattio’s 30-year retrospective exhibit at Monmouth University were used for his first retrospective in New York City at the Susan Berke Gallery.

    In 2004, he co-authored the book, The Drawings and Watercolors of Lewis Mumford with his colleague Professor Kenneth Stunkel, published by the prestigious Edwin Melon Press. In 2005, he received a grant from the Liquitex Paint Company for the completion of over 60 “tube paintings,” which led to a major exhibition at Brookdale Community College. Besides being named distinguished professor in 2013, he was also honored to have an art scholarship established in his name and having the art gallery in Rechnitz Hall named in his honor.

    Artist Reception: May 13 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Click here to register for the reception.

    This exhibition was made possible through a Creative Grant from Monmouth University. 

  • Jacob Landau: The Prophetic Quest

    Jacob Landau: The Prophetic Quest, An Exhibit of Selected Drawings and paintings by renowned American artist, humanist, and teacher Jacob Landau.  The selected works on display were completed by the artist in preparation for his stained glass masterpiece, The Prophetic Quest, a series of ten monumental stained glass windows housed in the Keneseth Israel synagogue, just north of Philadelphia. In addition to the artwork, copies of the recently published book; The Prophetic Quest: The Stained Glass Windows of Jacob Landau, will also be on hand for review. Copies of the book are also available for sale at the University Bookstore.

    Designed by the renowned American artist Jacob Landau, The Prophetic Quest encompasses ten masterful abstract pieces of stained glass that depict the lives and words of the biblical prophets, each towering nearly twenty-five feet high and spanning five feet across. Featuring essays recounting Landau’s vision, the history of his project, and detailed interpretative commentary on each window, this book presents an immersive experience of Landau’s religious masterwork. Personal reflections written by artists, art historians, poets, clergy, and congregants about their experience of The Prophetic Quest round out the volume with new ways to view and appreciate Landau’s creation.

    Born in Philadelphia in 1917, Landau launched his career as an illustrator, winning national prizes at age 16, and a scholarship to the Philadelphia College of Art. He went on to have over sixty one-person shows, featuring a wide range of drawings and paintings. The recipient of numerous awards, including Guggenheim and National Arts Council grants, many of his works are featured in permanent collections, such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A master teacher, he retired as professor emeritus at New York’s Pratt Institute. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by Monmouth University.

    The exhibition features a selection of some ten works. All are from Monmouth University’s extensive collection of Jacob Landau’s work, comprising over 300 prints, drawings and paintings. The collection was gifted to Monmouth University in 2008 by the Jacob Landau Institute of Roosevelt, NJ. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Jewish Culture Studies Program and the Honors School of Monmouth University.

  • Sam Cusumano

    Join us for a virtual Arts-Engineering talk/performance/workshop with Sam Cusumano. Cusumano is an Engineer for the Arts living in Philadelphia working with students, artists, musicians, and curators to create educational interactive electronic devices and installations. As part of his creative practice, he has connected plants and fungi with synthesizers to make music. Biodata Sonification is the process of representing invisible changes in plants to create music. By detecting microcurrent fluctuations across the surface of a plant’s leaf, these changes are used to generate MIDI notes which can be played through a synthesizer or computer to create sound. In this virtual presentation Sam Cusumano will explain methods used to tap into the secret life of plants, showing how to translate data for making music, and discuss the implications of interpreting biodata. Audio examples of Biodata Sonification will be performed live using analog synthesizers, digital audio workstations, and synth apps along with a Snake Plant, large Monstera, and various Cacti.

    When you register you will be provided the meeting link to join the conversation.

    Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

    This event is being recorded for educational and archival purposes and it may be posted on our website. By participating in this presentation, you give permission for Monmouth University to record the presentation for University purposes. You understand that your name, likeness, voice and statements may be recorded. If you do not wish to be recorded, a recording of this presentation will later be available upon request, and you can contact Amanda Stojanov, Assistant Professor of Digital Media (astojano@monmouth.edu) with any questions you may have regarding the presentation.

  • Electo Electro 2020 – Interactive Workshop and Artist Talk

    With Mike Richison

    Special Guest: Patrick Murray, Monmouth University Polling Institute

    ARTIST TALK:
    Wednesday, October 7, 6:00 PM

    WORKSHOP:
    Wednesday, October 7, 7:30 PM
    Attendees who are planning to participate in the 7:30 workshop are kindly requested to download and install a demo version of max msp jitter. This is not required. https://cycling74.com/downloads

    Electo Electro 2020 is an interactive installation combining audience participation, music, news footage, and politics. The project allows participants to remix videos from political rallies, debates, and news in a structured sixteen beat loop. The touchscreen design is a parody of the system employed by the Accuvote, a voting system that is difficult to audit and susceptible to hacking. The parody continues into the format of the installation itself which will resemble a polling station. There will be an artist talk at 6:00 followed by a Max MSP Jitter workshop at 7:30 pm.

    Mike Richison is a multimedia artist and an Assistant Professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey where he teaches motion graphics. He employs a variety of approaches including sculpture, graphic design, and interactive video. His work utilizes found objects such as turntables, voting booths, and scavenged video clips as well as the Max MSP Jitter programming environment. Mike has exhibited at Autonomous Cultural Centre Medika (Zagreb, Croatia); Figment NYC and Art in Odd Places (New York); and Peters Valley School of Craft and Morris Museum (New Jersey). His projects have received attention in outlets such as Leonardo, Noisey (Music by VICE), FACT Magazine, Hyperallergic, WABC-TV Channel 7 News New York, and The Washington Post. Before moving to New Jersey in 2007, he lived in the Detroit, Michigan area for several years.

    These events are FREE and open to the public, but please register if you plan to attend.
    They are virtual only. A Zoom link will be provided when you register.

    This event is presented in collaboration with Galleries and Collections and the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

  • Just Beachy: A Reading of Sandy Stories

    Help us mark the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. Readers will present stories that have been posted to “9 Feet High,” part of the Just Beachy/After Sandy installation now on view in Rechnitz Hall’s DiMattio Gallery.

    We invite you to participate by reading your own story, or listen as you hear your own story being read. Join us as your Sandy experience is acknowledged through the spoken word. Your story deserves to be heard!

  • POSTPONED – Second Senior Show: Graphic and Interactive Design

    Featuring the work of Monmouth University graduating seniors who will receive their degrees in Graphic and Interactive Design.

  • Annual Student Exhibition 2014

    Opening Reception: Sunday, April 27 from 1-4 pm. Featuring select works by Monmouth University students in photography, graphic design, animation and studio art.

  • Gallery Exhibition: MAVIS SMITH / THINK AGAIN

    September 2 – October 17, 2014
    Rechnitz Hall
    DiMattio Gallery – First Floor
    Opening Reception: Friday, September 19, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

    We interact with hundreds of people throughout our lifetimes, yet can we ever hope to grasp the intricate web of experience that makes them tick? Imagining the hidden realities of other people’s existences is a continuing theme in the work of artist Mavis Smith. “It’s not so much specific people or events, but the general sense of unknown depths that intrigues me”, says Smith. “It does not have to be dark; heroic acts toward total strangers or simple people rising to extraordinary occasions are equally in the mix.” Smith, who’s works are often done in egg tempera, brings an almost surreal aesthetic to her paintings that further suggests the dislocation of appearances and realities.

    “I have a love/hate relationship with egg tempera. It’s a labor intensive medium, but the luminous effects you can achieve makes it seem worth it to me. I build up layer upon layer of thicker paint, alternating with sheer washes of pigment – back and forth, back and forth. The actual process is very meditative, and I believe it contributes to my subconscious imagination coming into play.”

    Bucks County, PA resident Mavis Smith studied at the Pratt Institute in the 1970’s, and has exhibited her work in Holland and Switzerland as well as Santa Fe, New York City, and several venues in NJ and PA including a solo show in 2012 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA. She is also a prolific illustrator and author of children’s books, having authored 10 and illustrated at least 75. This exhibition samples a range of Smith’s work from years past, as well as several new pieces, including both paintings and works on paper as well as some recent sculptural works incorporating egg shells.