While Grand Valley State University’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus is the site of 30 outdoor artworks as an ArtPrize Exhibition Center, a new exhibition will soon be underway on the Allendale Campus.
Grand Valley’s Fall Arts Celebration presents “Arte Argentino Actual/Contemporary Argentine Art” in the Art Gallery, Performing Arts Center. An Opening Reception with the artists is planned for Thursday, October 6, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition continues through November 4.
The rich and diverse trends in contemporary South American art will be reflected in this eclectic exhibition featuring paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures by Argentine artists Juan Batalla, Daniel Barreto, Pedro Cugnasco, Gretchen Minnhaar and others.
Grand Valley has an established relationship with Batalla, a sculptor who works with wood, rubber, plastics and paint, and his colleague Barreto, a mixed-media artist. Several pieces of their work are in Grand Valley’s galleries and collections. Among them is Batalla’s “Aeromante,” which is located in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Batalla and Barreto traveled from Argentina and bring new works to the exhibition. Batalla has also participated in ArtPrize 2011 and both artists were part of this year’s DeVos Art Lecture.
Cugnasco works in a variety of media, including digital photography, with very intricate detail. Minnhaar, who lives and works in Grand Rapids, has melded her architectural training into her artwork, noted for its vibrant colors and subjective perspectives. Her work has been exhibited throughout the world and is held in many corporate and private collections in West Michigan, New York, Argentina and Spain.
The exhibition will also include a wall of 57 photographs, “Imagine Buenos Aires,” curated by Zulema Moret, Grand Valley’s director of Latin American Studies. They depict the city as interpreted by a group of 12 talented, emerging photographers. Exhibition coordinator Henry Matthews, director of galleries and collections, said the images provide an insider’s view of Buenos Aires not usually seen by the casual tourist.
This Art Gallery exhibition will be enhanced and supported with a series of music, dance, film, video and visiting artists programs throughout October. For details, visit www.gvsu.edu/artgallery.
Fall Arts Celebration is made possible, in part, through the
generosity of sponsors including, Ginny Gearhart and the Gearhart
Family, Liesel and Hank Meijer, Elaine and Larry Shay, Judy and Peter
Theune, and media partner WOOD Radio. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/fallarts, or call
(616) 331-2180.
