Accomplished Alumni Exhibit Artworks at Ohio Wesleyan’s Ross Art Museum
‘Kristina House,’ by Susan Paulsen ’80, from her new book, ‘Sarah Rhymes with Clara.’ (Photo by Susan Paulsen ’80)
DELAWARE, OH – The photographs capture images of everyday life with beauty and clarity. The paintings ponder the mysteries of the universe and the surprising similarities found by looking through the lens of a microscope or telescope. Both exhibits showcase the creations of accomplished Ohio Wesleyan University graduates and will on display from Sept. 29 through Nov. 13 at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St.
The photography exhibit, “Sarah Rhymes with Clara,” by Susan Paulsen, OWU Class of 1980, features images from the New York artist’s 2011 book of the same name. The book celebrates her daily life, including family and friends, providing “a revelation of the poetic in the seemingly banal.”
Paulsen’s 2004 exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, and her first book of images, “Tomatoes on the Back Porch” (2004), have earned international acclaim. William Meyers wrote of a Paulsen photograph in The Wall Street Journal, “The picture is so casual, so free of gimmicks, it seems to have taken itself, which is precisely the hardest of artistic accomplishments.”
From ‘Microscopy,’ by Dennison Griffith ’74. (Image by Dennison Griffith ’74)
The exhibition of paintings, “Microscopy,” by Dennison Griffith, M.F.A., OWU Class of 1974, features recent creations by Griffith, president of Columbus College of Art & Design since 1998. His paintings have been included in more than 90 solo and group exhibitions and are represented in multiple public and private collections.
Of his work, Griffith states: “The more one looks around in the physical world, the more examples of circles, orbs, and ellipses can be found. I’ve been stricken by uncanny similarities between the view through a microscope and the images sent back from the Hubble telescope: galaxies and microbes share round-ish forms and are seen against curiously flat ‘backgrounds.’ We struggle to sort out what is surface, and what is space. As in some of my work.”
The OWU alumni artists will participate in illustrated talks beginning at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in Room 312 of the R.W. Corns Building, 78 S. Sandusky St. They also will greet museum-goers at a public reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Ross Art Museum.
“Both artists have been previously honored as Distinguished Alumni Artists with one-person exhibitions presented in the Lynn Mayhew Gallery, which was then located in Humphreys Art Hall,” said museum director Justin Kronewetter, M.F.A. “In recent years the exhibition facilities have changed as dramatically as has the artwork of each artist. The new Ross Art Museum facilities are now among the best in central Ohio, and the artwork each artist is currently producing has been widely celebrated and has earned them the right to be acclaimed as two of our most accomplished art graduates.
“We are happy to offer examples of Susan’s new photographs and Denny’s new paintings to the public in two concurrent one-person exhibitions,” Kronewetter concluded.” And we are delighted to welcome each of them back to campus as celebrity artists during Homecoming and Family Weekend.”
The Ross Art Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is fully handicap-accessible and admission is always free.
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 45 states and 52 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.