You do not have to be an art major to appreciate the arts that are on display at the Dayton Art Institute. Right now, the institute has three displays, all of which are created by Ohioan artists, with some even from the Miami Valley.
Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth, the Kettering Exhibition Coordinator and Curatorial Associate for the Institute, spoke with the Clarion, providing backstories for the displays—some of the stories behind the work were just as interesting as the art themselves.
“Photographs by Ohio Art Educators” is a display of five works by art educators from Ohio. The purpose of the display is to give people new ways to see and understanding the visual world. The photographs in this exhibition are drawn from the collection of The Dayton Art Institute, demonstrating the range of artists who are also educators within the Dayton community. Their work influences the approach of future generations of artists and thinkers.
By showcasing works made from one medium, photography, this presentation narrows its lens in order to note the rich depth of possibility this medium can offer, as well as see the various nuances and the aesthetic choices of each artist.
One teacher whose work is featured on display is Sinclair Photography professor Richard E. Jurus II, whose works have been displayed in Building 13’s art gallery.
“We have used his art and others from Sinclair Community College before,” Katherine said. “ We contact their Fine Arts department and after confirmation, we went and picked them up.”
Another exhibition is “Visions and Dreams: Threaded works of Mary Borkowski.” This was previously showcased at Sinclair.
A native of Sulphur Lick Springs, Ohio, Borkowski spent much of her life in Dayton and began quilting in 1930. In 1965 she created her work on silk, felt or velvet backgrounds with silk thread and yarn. She called this type of work “thread painting,” and these form her singular contribution to traditional fiber arts.
The subject matter is generally drawn from events in Borkowski’s life, through what she calls her “string pictures,” which can also be described as surreal and strange. The effect resembles embroidery, but with more depth and texture. Borkowski was untrained in the fine arts, and her resulting work presents a unique interior vision all her own.
“The Borkowski exhibition is presented in conjunction with the special exhibition ‘American Sampler: Grandma Moses and the Handicraft Tradition,’ as they are untrained artists whose initial preferred mediums were embroidery/thread paintings, but Borkowski’s work takes a very different tone and is much more allegorical/social commentary than the work of Moses. While Mary Borkowski likely knew of Grandma Moses’ paintings, she would not have known about Moses’ embroideries and I would not go so far as to say Borkowski was influenced by Moses,” Siegwarth said.
“Sites of Worship” presents depictions of churches, temples, mosques and other locations of prayer from around the world. Highlighting the context and architectural grandeur of these sites, the exhibition demonstrates commonalities among places of prayer. This display draws from the works on paper collection of The Dayton Art Institute.
“The museum is a civic institution open to all, and we encourage dialogue around the art presented, of which this exhibition demonstrates one small glimpse of the over 17,000 works on paper housed at the museum,” Siegwarth said.
The Dayton Art Institute was able to acquire art from the Cleveland Art Museum for an exhibition titled “Toil and Leisure: The Evolution of French Landscape Painting in the 18th and 19th Centuries,” which depicts landscape of the 18th and 19th century Europe and its ties to social commentary.
French artist Paul Cézanne painted “The pigeon Tower at Bellevue,” a towering rock formation in the small town of Bellevue in southern France, with an exaggeration of the rock’s shape, extending it vertically and to the left, creating a geometric focal point of interest in the composition.
Contemporaries of Cézanne’s contemporaries Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Jean François Millet and Charles François Daubign used similar styles of art as forms of social protest that would show the gap between the upper class and the working class. One art form used in this time period was Rococo, as a retaliation against the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations.
Using a more jocular, florid, and graceful approach, this style of art was ornate and used light colors, asymmetrical designs, curves, and gold. “Toil and Leisure” will only be displayed until January 10, but will return to the museum in February.
“I want those that come to the galleries to have a connection when visiting the Art Institute,” said Siegwarth. “We have displays reaching over five millennia that could help us connect by reaching into our past.”
For more information, visit www.daytonartinstitute.org.
Jimaur Calhoun
A&E Editor