UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

3rd Rochester Biennial
July 13–September 14, 2008
in the Grand Gallery

The Rochester Biennial is an invitational exhibition of work by six contemporary regional artists working in a variety of media.  Largely dedicated to mid-career artists with a demonstrated commitment to their craft, the show also includes one artist selected on the strength of his or her entry in the previous year’s juried Rochester Finger-Lakes Exhibition.

The artists selected for 2008 are Ronald Gonzalez (Johnson City) with mixed media installations; Sue Huggins Leopard (Rochester) with artist’s books; Susan Lakin (Rochester) with photographs; Todd McGrain (Ovid) with bronze sculpture and drawings; Juan Perdiguero (Oswego) with drawings; and Melissa Sarat (Preble) with paintings.

This exhibition is underwritten by gifts in memory of Diane Holahan Grosso.

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
September 5, 2008–January 11, 2009
in the Lockhart Gallery

Best known as an influential teacher and photographer, John Wood also produces colorful paintings, cerebral drawings, and whimsical sculptures. Examples will be featured in the Memorial Art Gallery exhibition, one of a trio of shows honoring the 86-year-old’s lifetime accomplishments; George Eastman House and Visual Studies Workshop will offer concurrent installations of his photographic oeuvre.

Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons in the Age of the Romanovs
October 5, 2008–January 4, 2009
in the Grand Gallery

Tradition in Transition tells a story that has rarely been explored: that of the Russian icon or sacred devotional image during 300 years of Romanov rule (1613-1918). Seven hundred years of Russia’s isolation from the rest of the world came to a halt when Peter the Great commanded the construction of a new capital at St. Petersburg, on the Baltic shore. With this symbolic action, he opened a “window on the West.” The resulting influx of ideas, styles, fashions and ideologies altered the fabric of Russian society and profoundly influenced its most emblematic artistic expression: the religious icon.

The icons of Orthodox Christianity function as direct intermediaries between the viewer and the sacred realm. With their mystical style and raised frames, icons are often likened to windows through which heaven is glimpsed.

On tour for the first time ever, these 43 icons come from three major private collections, including that of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. They range from humble, roughly-painted wooden icons of the peasant class to luxurious examples made of ivory or painted enamels housed in gold or silver oklads (metal covers) embellished with pearls and precious jewels.

Long viewed as inferior to those produced during the medieval period, the icons of the Romanov period regain their rightful place as national treasures as a result of new scholarship.

Organized by the Hillwood Museum and Garden in collaboration with the Steinhardt-Sherlock Trust and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.

Subverting the Sacred: The Face of Lenin
October 5, 2008-January 4, 2009
in the Grand Gallery

Organized as a companion to Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons in the Age of the Romanovs, this exhibition comprises paintings and artifacts that demonstrate how the image of Lenin was used in Russia after 1917 to displace religious icons in both public and private settings. They are drawn from the collection of David Rittenhouse, a UR graduate and former member of the United States Foreign Service who recognized their historical and sociological importance when they were being widely disposed of after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.