Opening Reception at the Benton
Thursday, October 24, 2019
4:30pm – 7:00pm
Cash bar, light hors d'oeuvres, remarks at 5:30.
FREE. Open to everyone.
RSVP appreciated to benton@uconn.edu or 860-486-4520.
Join us for an Opening Reception at The Benton Museum for two of its new exhibitions: "DEMOKRACJA GRAFIKA: The Democracy of Print" and "When You Give Millennials a Gallery…"
"DEMOKRACJA GRAFIKA: The Democracy of Print"
This exhibition celebrates UConn Professor Emeritus of Printmaking Gus Mazzocca’s gift to the Benton of more than 150 prints by Polish artists. The prints came to Mazzocca through the exchange program that he established in 1984 with the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland. Produced largely during the 1970s and 1980s, the prints provide an opportunity to sample artistic production in Krakow during the Cold War, when Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. The exhibition’s title, presented in both Polish and English, suggests how printmaking helped artists involved in the exchange transcend cultural and political barriers to find common ground. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Department of Art and Art History; UConn Global Affairs; and Archives and Special Collections, UConn Library.
"When You Give Millennials a Gallery…"
Curated by Françoise Dussart, Professor of Anthropology, University of Connecticut and the students enrolled in Anthropological Perspectives on Art in Spring 2019. Coined in 2002, “selfies” have evolved from simple documentations of events to polished curations of self-expression. They have become a conspicuous tool for communication. So, why do we take selfies in a museum? Students enrolled in Anthropological Perspectives on Art taught by Professor Françoise Dussart explore this question in an exhibition titled When You Give Millennials a Gallery…. In this exhibition, they analyze how museum-selfies create relationships amongst Millennial selfie-takers, artworks, and visitors. Originally, the students engaged with their assignment—“taking selfies in a museum”— with suspicion. Was this another narcissistic exercise? Instead, with their museum-selfies they articulate their identities, reveal their emotions, challenge museum displays, and question conventional timelines of artists. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Department of Anthropology.
THE WILLIAM BENTON MUSEUM OF ART
University of Connecticut
School of Fine Arts
245 Glenbrook Road
Storrs, CT
www.benton.uconn.edu
Like us at: www.facebook.com/benton.museum
For more information, contact: The Benton Museum at 860-486-4520