Arizona State University Art Museum announces 2005-06 exhibition schedule

Araceli Herrera: Mexico through the Lens
Aug. 6 – Oct. 8, 2005
Return to Chiapas – a photographer on the road, film, Sept. 13, 7 p.m., Hayden Library. Reception and artist lecture at the ASU Art Museum after the film, Sept. 13, 8:30-9:30 p.m.

Araceli Herrera: Mexico through the lens is an exhibition of black and white images of Mexican life by photojournalist Araceli Herrera. It was organized by Dr. Miriam Haddu, a lecturer in Hispanic Studies at Royal Holloway University of London. The exhibition coincides with a free screening of the documentary film, Return to Chiapas – a photographer on the road, featuring Herrera. Haddu and Herrera will visit ASU this fall for the exhibition and screening, which are co-presented by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at ASU.

Stella Lai: Let’s Stop Pretending
Sept. 1 – Nov. 19, 2005
Opening reception and welcome back students party, Aug. 30, 6-8 p.m.

Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, after 155 years as a British Colony. Reflecting on this historical turning point, San Francisco artist Stella Lai examines the architecture, language and memories that defined her homeland. Lai’s paintings and wall installations reflect an identity shift in Hong Kong that is neither British nor Chinese, but more of a hyper-accelerated city in a new global dialogue. This is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition.

Between Clouds of Memory: Akio Takamori, A Mid-Career Survey 
Sept. 9 – Jan. 14, 2006
Artist lecture, Oct. 7, Coor Lecture Hall, ASU campus 
Members and invited guests reception, Oct. 8, 7-9 p.m., ASU Art Museum

The ASU Art Museum’s Ceramics Research Center is organizing the first major mid-career survey on the ceramic art of Japanese-born artist Akio Takamori, currently residing in Seattle. This hallmark exhibition, spanning thirty years of creative excellence, is comprised of forty-eight sculptures and nine prints and drawings from the Museum’s collection, as well as private and public collections nationwide.

Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S. 
Sept. 24 – Dec. 23, 2005
Members and invited guests reception, Oct. 8, 7-9 p.m.

Regeneration surveys the exciting and rapidly changing field of contemporary Chinese art in drawing, installation, painting, photography, video, prints and sculpture. This national touring exhibition of 50-plus artworks by 26 artists living in the U.S. and in China was organized by the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. The artists, some internationally known and some new to Western audiences, represent the regeneration of contemporary life and culture in China.

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith: Paintings and Prints (ASU Art Museum)
Contemporary Native American Ceramics from Local Collections (Ceramics Research Center)
Oct. 25 – Jan. 28, 2006

Jaune’s rich combination of abstract and realistic imagery shows concern for the environment and the cultural references and myths of her Native American ancestors. This exhibition, along with Contemporary Native American Ceramics from Local Collections at the Ceramics Research Center, is offered in conjunction with the Native American Art Studies Association (NAASA) conference hosted by Arizona State University and the Heard Museum October 26-29, 2005. For conference location and information contactKate.Duncan@asu.edu.

Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection
Dec. 10 – April 1, 2006
Members and invited guests opening reception and holiday party, Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m.
Arizona residents Sara and David Lieberman, with their impeccable eye and passion for contemporary craft, have assembled one of the best collections of contemporary baskets in the country. Approximately 50 works will be shown from their collection of 150, including functional and sculptural forms made from traditional organic to commercial and sometimes surprising media.

A Ceramic Legacy: Selections from the Stéphane Janssen and R. Michael Johns Collection 
Feb. 11 – Aug. 5, 2006
Ceram-a-rama Gala: California Dreamin’, Feb. 25, Tempe Mission Palms Hotel

This exhibition celebrates Stéphane Janssen's impressive 2004 gift to the ASU Art Museum’s Ceramics Research Center: his entire contemporary ceramics collection, which consists of 686 ceramics. Acquired over a decade with his late partner, ceramist R. Michael Johns, the collection was built with Johns' studied eye for technical merit and Janssen's eye for pure aesthetic. The result is powerful and diverse, from massive figurative sculptures to elegant functional pottery. The exhibition includes work by major international ceramists, including Robert Arneson, Ruth Duckworth, Viola Frey, Asger Jorn, Jun Kaneko, Harrison McIntosh, Richard Notkin, George Ohr, Adrian Saxe, Akio Takamori, as well as a variety of emerging artists.

The Ceramics of R. Michael Johns
Feb. 11 – Aug. 5, 2006

Running concurrently with A Ceramic Legacy at the Ceramics Research Center, this exhibition features the ceramic art of R. Michael Johns, an M.F.A. graduate of ceramics at the Otis College of Art + Design in California. Under the tutelage of ceramics master Ralph Bacerra, Johns created a unique and inventive body of work comprised primarily of sculptural teapot forms.

Lawrence Gipe: Three Five-Year Plans
March 11 – June 10, 2006
Artist lecture, March 10, noon
Members and invited guests reception, March 10, 6-8 p.m.

This mid-career retrospective analyzes the role that art plays in tandem with political power. Gipe’s paintings depict the glorification of industrialization in both the East and West by recreating photographic images sanctioned by the Nazis to demonstrate the capacities of the camera. His work recombines the vocabulary of images that became the visual language of industrialization and redefines the context of Western economic expansion and the Third Reich.

Turning Point: Inspired by the Edward Jacobson Collection of Turned Wood Bowls
April 22 – July 22, 2006
Members and invited guests reception, April 21, 6-8 p.m.

Edward “Bud” Jacobson assembled the first comprehensive collection of wood-turned bowls by contemporary American artists and generously gave it to the ASU Art Museum in 1989. Since then, the collection has traveled internationally and is recognized as a landmark collection in the field. This exhibition includes selections from the original Jacobson gift and acquisitions of contemporary art in wood that continue the Jacobson legacy.

10th Annual Short Film and Video Festival
April 2006, date TBA
To celebrate the artistic and creative endeavors of individuals with different visions and levels of experience, the ASU Art Museum presents short films and videos by artists from around the world. Bring a lawn chair, blanket or anything else to use as a seat and join us on the back plaza of the Nelson Fine Arts Center for this free community event.

The ASU Art Museum, named “the single most impressive venue for contemporary art in Arizona” by Art in America, is part of the Herberger College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University. The museum is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street in Tempe and entry is free. Hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and until 9 p.m. Tuesdays during the academic year. For more information, call (480) 965-2787 or visit the museum online at http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu.

Media Contact:
ASU Art Museum
Denise Tanguay
480-965-7144
Denise.tanguay@asu.edu

Ceramics Research Center
Mica Matsoff
(480) 965-0478
Mica.Matsoff@asu.edu