A new exhibition, 75 Years of Creative Excellence: A Celebration of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, is now open on campus in the Tower Gallery located in the Haberman Gacioch Arts Center.
James Kuo
On display are works by a quintet of accomplished artists, including internationally renowned painter Elizabeth Murray. One of the only female artists honored with a retrospective of her work in her lifetime by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Murray taught at Daemen (then Rosary Hill College) during the 1960’s.
“She’s considered one of the most important painters of the late 20th century,” said Brian Hammer, instructor of art history in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). “Her time in Buffalo has also been recognized as critical to her growth and development as a groundbreaking artist.”
The exhibition also features original artworks by former Daemen faculty members James Kuo, James Allen, Dennis Barraclough, and Sister Jeanne File.
Allen and Barraclough, both retired and among the longest tenured faculty members in VPA’s history, attended an opening reception for the show on Friday, September 9.
The works hail from private collections and Daemen’s in-house cache of paintings by Kuo, which have been donated by his family over the years. Calligraphy works by Sister Jeanne File were provided by archives at Stella Niagara, the convent near Lewiston where the establishment of Rosary Hill College was planned in the late 1940’s.
File, among the “Seven Sisters” who founded the college, also established what is now VPA. “The art department has been here since the very beginning,” said Hammer.
An internationally recognized calligrapher, File has a piece in the Vatican’s art collection and her works were commissioned by the United Nations and other high-profile organizations.
“It was difficult to decide which works to display, given that Daemen has had so many accomplished faculty over the years,” said Hammer.
“The talent within the department is something that’s always been constant. These artists are examples of consistency and a high level of creativity,” added Hammer, who is also gallery director. “They’re all very different artists from one another. That variety is interesting and on display here.”
Also on display are a bevy of black-and-white images of Daemen art students and faculty from Summit yearbooks from 1952 onward, along the ramp into the Tower Gallery from Duns Scotus, known as the Karamanoukian Gallery.
The show will run through October 7.