Microcosm: Art Photographers Beatrice Pediconi & Yasuko Oki
Fall 2019
This photography exhibition featured the works of internationally recognized art photographers Beatrice Pediconi and Yasuko Oki. It was curated by fine arts photographer Barbara Luisi, whose work has previously been featured in Quick Center exhibitions. Italian artist Pediconi, an architect by training, “paints” on the surface of water, then captures the quickly changing images photographically. Oki is a Japanese pinhole photographer who captures wonderful sights that can't be seen through normal vision. Her technique is to use her pinhole camera to look at something through a clear bottle of water. A gallery talk was presented by Pediconi and Luisi.
The Sculpture of Conrad Levenson
Fall 2019
Conrad Levenson salvages scrap materials and obsolete objects, repurposing and recomposing them as works of art, while combining previously unrelated elements in unusual and unexpected ways. The sculptures evoke the former times, places, lives, unique character, and the embedded energy of their source materials. This exhibition featured 14 pieces from his collection of works. The artist visited campus for a gallery talk.
Out of Darkness: Putting a Face on Homelessness — Portraits by Gary Wolfe
Fall 2019
This portrait series by Buffalo-area artist Gary L. Wolfe, painted over a two-year period, featured homeless people who Wolfe connected with in order to raise public awareness of the plight of the homeless. He sought to portray those whose dignity is evident in spite of their assumed powerlessness and vulnerability. Wolfe and Karen Carman of the Matt Urban Hope Center in Buffalo gave a gallery talk about the portrait series and the problems surrounding the homeless. They were jointed by a few of the people who sat for portraits with the artist.
Prints by Jean Carzou, French-Armenian Artist, Painter and Illustrator
Spring 2019
Jean Carzou (Armenian 1907–2000) was a French–Armenian artist, painter, and illustrator, whose work illustrated the novels of Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus. He was educated in Cairo, Egypt, before moving to Paris in 1924 to study architecture. He started working as a theater decorator but quickly realized he preferred drawing and painting. In 1938, more than a hundred exhibitions of his works were organized in Paris, in the French provinces and abroad. In 1949, he received the coveted Hallmark prize. He was also awarded the National Order of Merit of France. A museum dedicated to his work is in the town of Dinard, France.
The Light/The Shade: One-a-Day Paintings by Abbey Ryan
Spring 2019
Recognized for her practice of completing a painting a day, Abbey Ryan, associate professor at Arcadia University, displayed a collection of work that Ryan created while visiting the Greek Island of Patmos. The exhibition featured 14 landscapes and still-life paintings in oil on linen. Patmos served as the longtime home of the American poet and Olean native Robert Lax (1915-2000), whose singular form of minimalist poetry and seemingly solitary existence inspired Ryan to start the light/the shade series in 2012. Her work is set to poetry by Lax.
Coming Home: A Photographer Looks at a Revitalized Olean
Fall 2018
Raised in Olean, Patrick Schwabenbauer joined the U.S. Navy after high school. He traveled the Mediterranean, to Spain, Italy and North Africa, taking photos along the way. After the service, he returned to Olean, attended Jamestown Community College, then worked for NASA as an aerospace computer engineer. He returned to Olean in 2005 because of complications related to his disability. An accident left him paralyzed and unable to walk. With more free time, he picked up his camera, turning a passing hobby into a passion.
Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: The Art of Janet McKenzie
Fall 2018
McKenzie's paintings offer a new and diverse view of women and religion, and she explores diversity, children and symbolic imagery in her work. Reproductions of her art are regularly carried in demonstrations and marches across the U.S. as visual testaments in support of racial equality and as a voice against prejudice, women's rights and the LGBTQ community.
Jess! Watercolors & Inks by Jess Pfohl
Spring 2018
Drawings and watercolor works by Jess Pfohl, who earned a degree in journalism and mass communication from SBU in 2006. A self-taught artist, she has worked with many artists in a range of mediums including film, photography, textiles and music.
Arabesque: Works by Liz Whitney Quisgard
Fall 2017 - Spring 2018
Quisgard, an American artist who lives and works in New York City, was schooled at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work has been viewed in dozens of public collections in the U.S. and in museum collections on two continents. This exhibition featured textile works along with some of Quisgard's most famous architectural pieces, paintings and sculptures depicting a quasi-imaginary world where everything is covered in an ornamental design reminiscent of Arabic or Moorish decoration.
Kimono — Japan's Woven History
2017-2018
This exhibition featured all types of kimonos and the traditions and history surrounding these beautiful textiles. It was curated by Dr. Chisato O. Dubreuil, associate professor of art history at St. Bonaventure, a former curator at the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution.
The Spiritual South: Photographs by Barbara Luisi
Fall of 2017
Photographs of ancient cave churches were featured in this exhibition of works by world renowned fine art photographer Barbara Luisi. While searching for ancient olive trees in the Italian South of Apulia, Luisi came across spiritual and sacred places, including cave churches dating back to 1000 a.c. The exhibition opened with an artist's talk.
We The People: An Album of the Chinese People
Fall of 2017
This exhibition featured a collection of photographs by Zola Cao, a Chinese photographer and writer, whose work reflects his deep love for the Chinese people's daily lives. With a background in medicine, the Chinese army and later in business management, Cao began to develop his creative side by combining photography and writing. Cao was the 2017 Lenna Visiting Professor at St. Bonaventure. The exhibition included an artist's talk.
Takujututit Inuit: Art from the Baffin Island area, Nunavut, Canada
Fall of 2017
This exhibition featured the work of several Inuit artists from the Baffin Island area in Nunavut, Canada. Incorporating different mediums, the exhibition explored how the materials used by the artists and the content of their work is shaped by the environment and culture of the Inuit. The exhibition was curated by Gwendolyn Brown, a dual American-Canadian citizen and a student at Ontario College of Art & Design.
Merton & Lax: Imagery and Word
2017
This exhibition featured some never-before-seen works by Thomas Merton and Robert Lax, devoted friends and world renowned writers. The two met in 1935 at Columbia University, where they wrote for the student humor magazine. Lax, an Olean native, brought Merton to his family's cottage outside Olean, where they spent the summers of 1939 and 1940. After graduating from Columbia, Merton taught English at St. Bonaventure (1940-1941), while Lax went to work for the New Yorker magazine. Merton (1915 – 1968) became a well-known Catholic writer, theologian and mystic, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. Lax (1915 — 2000) taught English at the University of North Carolina, then set off to find a simpler life. After writing for The New Yorker, he was poetry editor at Time magazine, had a stint as a Hollywood scriptwriter, and even traveled with a circus as a juggler. He would eventually land on the Greek island of Patmos, living out the rest of his life writing poetry as he sought a life of simplicity, humility and grace.
Cambier's Paris: Scenes of Paris by artist Pierre Eugene Cambier; Part of the F. Donald Kenney Print Collection
Fall '16 & Spring '17 Semesters
Cambier worked almost exclusively in watercolor and his work was first exhibited at the Salon des Independents in Paris in 1948. Represented by galleries in Paris, London and Amsterdam, Cambier taught drawing and painting to budding artists in Paris until his death in 2000. F. Donald Kenney (1918-1997) was a native of Olean, N.Y., who served as chairman of Goldman Sach International Corporation and chairman of the board of the National Academy Museum and the School of Fine Arts. He served as a trustee of St. Bonaventure University from 1989 until his death. He left nearly his entire art collection, more than 1,000 works, to the university. Within the Kenney collection can be found works by the most renowned artists of the 20th century, including Picasso, Braque, Cocteau and Miró.
Spectral Gestures: Non-figurative Works from the F. Donald Kenney Collection
Fall '16 & Spring '17 Semesters
This exhibition featured examples of mid-20th century non-figurative works collected by F. Donald Kenney (See "Cambier's Paris" entry above) during his lifetime including pieces from both the Abstract Expressionism (American influences) or Art Informel (Western-European Influences) movements, along with their sub-genres of Action, Field Color, Tachisme and Automatism.
Dressing for the Stage: Costumes by Howard Tsvi Kaplan for Theater, Opera, Musicals and the Circus
Fall Semester 2017
This exhibition featured costumes and drawings chronicling the 34-year career of Howard Tsvi Kaplan, from his early days with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College to his most recent work as resident costume designer with Sarasota Opera, Sarasota, Fla. Kaplan was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for his work with the Olney Theatre production of "Man of La Mancha" in 2001, and is a three-time winner of the Sarasota Herald Tribune Handy Award. Kaplan gave a talk at the Sept. 15 opening, which included a dinner on stage.
Camino de Santiago: The Journey Through Photographs
Fall Semester 2017
This exhibition featured photographs of Camino de Santiago, the 500-mile pilgrimage from southern France to the coast of Spain, a route walked by Saint Francis of Assisi more than 800 years ago. The photographs, taken by Michael Kunzinger, were accompanied by text contributed by his father, Bob Kunzinger, a 1983 graduate of St. Bonaventure. Bob Kunzinger share additional information about the pilgrimage in a free gallery talk.
Michael Lenson: Public and Private
Michael Lenson (1903-1971), one of America's most important realist painters, was born in Russia and emigrated to America in 1911. In 1928, he won the coveted $10,000 Chaloner Paris Prize, which paid for four years of study in Paris, London and the Netherlands. During the Great Depression, he became director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural projects for the state of New Jersey, completing major mural projects in Newark and elsewhere. This exhibit featured his public paintings as well as private works — his portrayal of family and friends, their love, work, triumphs and tragedies.
Art Quilt Exhibition: People and Portraits
People and Portraits celebrated the expressiveness of the human face in stunning quilts created by an international array of 20 artists. The diverse designs focused on a variety of both emotional states and the ways in which people interact: contemplation, joy, community, work and play. The exhibition of 40 quilts came to the Quick Center from the Studio Art Quilt Association, an international organization that promotes the art of quilting.
Hardtack Regiment, the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry
A collection of artifacts from members of the 154th Regiment on loan from Mark Dunkleman, regimental historian. The 154th New York was one of hundreds of Union army regiments raised in the North in the summer of 1862 in response to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers. The regiment was gathered from men of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties and saw many civil war battles including Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Atlanta.
Turning Left at the Intersection: Current Work by David Haack, O.F.M.
After retiring in 2013 from teaching art history and studio art at St. Bonaventure University, Br. David set up the Haack Studiolo, a Latin word meaning room for meditation and study. He is still developing as an artist, said Br. David, and this exhibition showcased his most current work.
Riparazioni: Meditations on the Fullness of Being (Women)
Artist: Anne T. Kmieck
This exhibition contained dresses and object ensembles of women throughout history, whose vitality and scholarly interventions went far beyond that of the men of their time.
On Nature's Terms
Thomas Paquette's paintings in On Nature's Terms were inspired by his journeys to federal wilderness areas all across the country.
Contemporary Woodblock Prints
Buffalo artist, Catherine Shuman Miller has created a series of woodblock prints that interpret the Hamsah, (symbol of the hand, and a good luck charm) with playfulness and humor.
La Ofrenda: Day of the Dead
Over hundreds of years, the Day of the Dead has become a part of the Catholic tradition in many Latin American countries, as a time to remember family and friends who have passed on.
Barbara Luisi: Pearls, Tears of the Sea & Glowing Nights
Internationally acclaimed fine arts photographer Barbara Luisi launched two contrasting retrospective exhibitions with an artist's talk in September of 2013: “Pearls, Tears of the Sea,” which featured underwater photography. It also featured the display of pearls by Mastoloni Pearls of New York City; and "Glowing Nights,” featuring artificial light photography.
Ellen Steinfeld: Explorations
This exhibition included various pieces from Steinfeld's advanced repertoire of imagery and techniques including abstracted, painted "plates," sculpture and handmade paper pieces. Steinfeld has received numerous large-scale commissions including a monumental 18-foot steel sculpture for the atrium of Roswell Park Cancer Institute and a commission to design 16 large stained glass windows for Christ Church in Detroit. A Steinfeld sculpture greets travelers at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. She has also produced a design for Absolut Vodka in a campaign that raised money for AIDS research.
House & Home
Drawn from the flagship installation at The National Building Museum, "House & Home" explored the varied history and many cultural meanings of the American home. Visitors experienced how our ideal of the perfect house and our experience of what it means to “be at home” have changed over time. The exhibition included domestic furnishings and home construction materials, photographs, “please touch” interactive components, and films.
Ray Klausen: A Retrospective From Hollywood to Broadway
This exhibition featured work of the Emmy award winning set designer, whose work includes a long resume of theatre and television credits. Klausen earned 12 Emmy nominations and three Emmy awards for set designs (two for The Academy Awards and one for the Cher television series). On display were various set designs constructed during Klausen’s prolific career including miniature sets for "On Golden Pond" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Also featured were images of Klausen’s television sets as well as play bills and lobby cards.
University Art Collection: Up Close and Personal with Savonarola Preaching Against Luxury
This exhibition featured an up close, eye-level look at Ludwig von Langenmantel’s 1879 masterpiece, Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality. Acquired by the university in 1932, this large painting was formerly installed over the fireplace in the Reference Hall of the Friedsam Memorial Library and was the focus around which the architect planned the room. It was displayed in the exhibition Money & Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli, and the Bonfire of the Vanities at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy, where it was seen by approximately 85,000 visitors. It is one of the only Langenmantel works still available for public view in the world.
Claire Wagner Kosterlitz: A Bauhaus Artist in America
Born Edeltraut Clara Wagner, Kosterliz was educated in the arts throughout her life in both Germany and the United States including seven years of private art lessons and time spent at the Bauhaus Dessau and Art Students League in New York City. Her work has been shown in numerous libraries, universities, and museums including the Bauhaus Archive, Museum of Modern Art, Rutgers University, and the Jewish Museum of New Jersey.