Blog
New to the Collection: Highlights from 2021
December 07, 2021
Image credits, left to right: Platey by Patty Carroll, Self Portrait by Henk Krijger, Homegoing by Darlene Karczmarczyk, Chinese Lanterns by Joyce Tenneson, Survival Guide by Kendra Postma, and Untitled by Henry A. Brown.
We believe that art has the power to move people; to bridge gaps in understanding; to spark our collective imagination toward building a better, more equitable world; and to enrich learning experiences beyond the capacity of traditional classroom structures. In support of these outcomes, we're committed to acquiring works of art by artists from diverse backgrounds and by artists who explore challenging topics. Here's a list of new additions to the GVSU Art Collection from the later half of 2021 that support these beliefs:
Patty Carroll is a photographer known for her use of highly intense, saturated color photographs since the 1970's. The GVSU Art Gallery recently added more than 20 photographs from her most recent project, “Anonymous Women,” which consists of a 3-part series of studio installations made for the camera, addressing women and their complicated relationships with domesticity. By camouflaging the figure in drapery and/or domestic objects, Carroll creates a dark and humorous game of hide-and-seek between her viewers and the Anonymous Woman.
View Carroll's Work in the Art Collection Database
Henk Krijger was an artist, sculptor, muralist, typography, illustrator, and book designer who moved between the worlds of design and fine art. Krijger was born in 1914 on the tiny island of Sumba in the Malaysian archipelago to Dutch Protestant-reformed missionaries. He attended school in Amsterdam and later lived in the Chicago area while working as the Master Artist for the Institute for Christian Art. He designed or illustrated books for the Dutch publisher Stichting De Roos. His designs appeared seventeen times in the Dutch Fifty Best Books list. The Art Gallery recently added 70 works of art spanning most of Krijger's career to the collection.
View Kijger's Work in the Art Collection Database
Darlene Karczmarczyk is professor emeritas at Kendall College of Art and Design. Her inspiration comes largely from commercial advertising of the 1950s, styles that still exist today in modern culture. She focuses on iconic feminine apparel such as handkerchiefs and aprons, turning them into satirical representations of the social status of women. As a photographer she enjoys using alternative photographic methods like pinhole and photograms to create her work. The Art Gallery recently added 50 photographs by Karczmarczyk to the collection.
View Karczmarczyk's Work in the Art Collection Database
Joyce Tenneson earned her master's degree in photography from George Washington University after starting as a model for Polaroid. Still today, she primarily shoots with a Polaroid 20x24 camera. Her work has been published in books and major magazines, and exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, making her one of the most influential women photographs. On her work she states, "I want to allow others to reveal and celebrate aspects of themselves that are usually hidden. My camera is a witness. It holds a light up for my subjects to help them feel their own essence, and gives them the courage to collaborate in recording these revelations." The Art Gallery recently added 7 photographs by Tenneson to the collection.
View Tenneson's Work in the Art Collection Database
Kendra Postma is a multimedia, collage, and ceramic artist from West Michigan. Her work often takes on a dreamlike or spiritual aura and is influenced by her environment and current events. Postma's collage Survival Guide, pictured above, was awarded the GVSU Art Gallery Purchase Award at the 2021 Festival of the Arts.
View Postma's Work in the Art Collection Database
Henry Arthur Brown is a self-taught collage artist living and working in Grand Rapids, MI. Brown's work is influenced by social, political, and cultural events and motivated by his desire to make sense of the world. The Art Gallery recently added the untitled college pictured above to the collection and featured Brown's work in the Fall 2021 exhibition Honest and Unrefined: Art Outside the Academy in the GVSU Art Gallery at the Haas Center for Performing Arts.
View Brown's Work in the Art Collection Database