PULLMAN, Wash. — “Art as Environ: The Contemporary Installation,” an exhibition featuring six installation works created by artists from Washington, Idaho and California, will be on display at the Washington State University Museum of Art March 2-28.
Ross Coates, a WSU professor in the Department of Fine Arts, will present the opening lecture, “The Hermeneutics of Self-Worth as Defined by the Traditional Urban/Rural Dichotomy,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 1, in the Fine Arts Auditorium. A reception, hosted by the Friends of the Museum of Art, will follow in the Fine Arts Center lobby.
Work in the exhibition includes “Leonardo da Pisa Spends Easter at the Beach,” by Coates and Marilyn Lysohir-Coates of Moscow, which connects memory with a mathematical problem introduced by the work of 20th-century Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci. Also included are selections from “Secret Records” by Seattle artist Jesse Paul Miller, which focuses on the meeting point between systems and materials; and an installation of delicate boat-shaped sculpture by Peggy Vanbianchi of Kingston, “Borealis,” “Deluse” and “Cetus,” that conjures up a sense of tribal culture and journeys unknown to modern man.
Time, decay and death — and the absolute and irreversible force they exert on everything material — are the subject of “Dust” by David Nechak of Seattle. “Deaf Words & Mute Songbirds,” by Portland artist Orleonok Pitkin (courtesy of Laura Russo Gallery, Portland), examines the gap between what is sent as information and that which is received. “Beyond the Visible,” by Christel Dillbohner of Berkeley, Calif. (courtesy of Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco), invites the viewer to establish relationships between found and altered objects and memory.
In the exhibit, artists have released the images from any one traditional art source and embedded them in environments which extend in time, space and imagination, exhibit organizers said.
Funding for museum exhibitions and programs is provided by WSU and the Friends of the Museum of Art. A portion of the museum’s general operating funds for this fiscal year has been provided through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that provides support to the nation’s museums.
Museum of Art exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public. The gallery is wheelchair accessible. Hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Tuesday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; and weekends, 1-5 p.m. The museum will be open by appointment during spring break, March 15-19, by calling the museum office at 509/335-1910.
Weekday visitors may purchase WSU campus parking permits at the Cougar Depot in downtown Pullman, or at WSU Parking Services, Wilson Road, directly uphill from the Fine Arts Center. Parking is available in the Fine Arts Center parking structure for an hourly fee on weekday evenings. Weekend parking is free.
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