Apr 28 Sunday
"Magnificent Beauty: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Art of the Flower" examines explorations of flowers in painting and photography by O’Keeffe and Imogen Cunningham, highlighting their unique interpretations of the traditional subject matter.
O’Keeffe redefined the tradition of floral still-life painting by incorporating techniques of photography (a relatively new medium in the early twentieth century) into her works, choosing to depict the subject cropped and at close range to focus on color and form. While Cunningham also portrayed flowers in close-up, her photographs instead call attention to the play of light and shadow as well as the subject’s intricate details, captured with precision. Magnificent Beauty demonstrates how each artist transformed the traditional subject with a modernist, and at times abstracted, take on the natural world.
Multiple Voices is the first public artwork in the United States by Eva Schlegel, the Austria-based artist known for engineering steel and mirrors into spectacular, architectonic sculptures. Working with materials similar to the arts center’s new building,
Schlegel created a series of polished and translucent surfaces that catch and reflect light and parts of the surrounding environment, encouraging visitors to gather, play and learn.
Poems by Steve Bellin-Oka, Kimberly Blaeser and Joy Harjo appear in blurred form on glass panels, registering each poem as part of the sculpture, but rendered cryptic to the viewer.
For more information: 405-951-0000, okcontemp.org/EvaSchlegel
Image: Rendering of Eva Schlegel's Multiple Voices at Oklahoma Contemporary. Rendering: Damjan Minovski, Architectural team: Valerie Messini.
Experience HOME1947: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy! This immersive exhibition explores the lives and stories of the millions displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent nation-states, India and Pakistan. Through a series of short films, virtual reality, photographs, sound installations and more, HOME1947 recreates the long-lost sights, sounds and smells of what millions once called home. Visit okcontemp.org for gallery hours.
For more information: 405-951-0000, okcontemp.org/HOME1947
Image: Video still, Beila, 2017. © Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. Photo courtesy of SOC Films.
Apr 29 Monday
Apr 30 Tuesday
This talk explores Ethiopian artist Gebre Kristos Desta's last work, made in Lawton Oklahoma. The familiar narrative of his life is that his time in Oklahoma was marred in tragedy, and that he died prematurely in 1981.This paper reveals new research into the immensely prolific time he spent in Lawton. At the very end of his life, Kristos was working on a riotously colorful mural depicting the rising sun. His last works in Oklahoma reveal an artist who was not wallowing in exile, but committed to the inspirational and redemptive potential of painting to the very end.
The Sweater Weather Art Series will enable the Norman community to interact with its emerging student artists during the winter months. Through the series, Second Wind Coffeehouse will promote insightful conversations about artists’ work, careers, and methods. The first night will be Coffee and Conversation, a get-to-know the artist coffee chat. The second night will be an open showcase of the artists’ works.