Respond

February 02, 2009 |

Respond—an exhibit of site-inspired artwork—will be presented in Goucher College’s Rosenberg Gallery from Monday, February 2, through Sunday, March 8.

The exhibit, which is free to the public, can be viewed weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and during scheduled events at Kraushaar Auditorium. An artists’ reception will be held Thursday, February 12, at 6 p.m. in Rosenberg Gallery. Call 410-337-6333 for more information.
 
Painters Heidi Neff and John Shipman and multimedia artists Stuart Stein and Christine Buckton Tillman created works that respond to and are a part of the gallery and college’s grounds, architecture, and space.

Drawn to the gallery’s ceiling, Heidi Neff replaced 100 ceiling tiles with painted ones depicting helicopters that search for something against a night sky. The gallery’s ceiling lights are incorporated into the searchlights coming from the helicopters, and a lone figure hangs on for dear life to the grid that supports the ceiling. The title of the piece, Something is missing, is also incorporated as skywriting.

In his works, painter John Shipman examines themes of love and the irrationality of the human heart. On the gallery’s 35-foot wall, Shipman’s painting From My Heart references not only love, but the deer found on the grounds of Goucher College, as well as education.

Responding to the gallery’s large cove, Stuart Stein created a multimedia installation that includes digital prints and a projection. In Jump, Fall, a series of prints chronologically depicting the creative process. Each print shows a forested area with manmade forms within it. The repetitive use of the trees in each print contrasts with the changing nature of the manmade forms throughout the work, creating a constant harmony and rhythm.

Christine Buckton Tillman’s mixed-media painting and collage was created in response to the bumper-like molding that safeguards the artwork on display and provides a visual buffer between the carpet and wall. Tillman thinks the buffer is unusual and funny. In her piece, handmade colored dots and wood-grain contact paper form “hydrangeas” that highlight the curious architecture.