Right in time for March’s Women’s History Month the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University is hosting the special exhibition “Off Kilter, On Point: Art of the 1960s at Colorado State University” which includes several prominent women artists. The Museum has also developed several educational programs and exciting events planned for the month of March.
View artworks from women artists Bridget Riley, Chryssa, Helen Gerardia, Lil Picard, and Agathe Sorel. These women were some of the most prominent artists from the 1960s that helped shape the important Op Art, Pop Art, and Minimalist movements.
Op Art or Optical Art includes works that are largely geometric and abstract, utilizing optical illusions to trick the eye. Pop Art is based on 1960s American popular culture and challenged traditional art by incorporating images from comic books, advertising, and mass-produced objects. Notable artists of this movement include Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Minimalismus based on hard edges and simple shapes like the triangle, circle and square.
We celebrate Women’s History Month to create awareness of the contributions of women artists throughout history. “Many people are unaware of how much Bridget Riley’s contributions to Op Art helped to create the movement that inspired many other Op artists,” said Museum Curator of Education Andrea Ondish. The women artists on exhibit are from Hungary, Greece, England, Germany and the Russian Empire. This diverse groups of women have inspired many artists and are leaders in their respective art movements.
Programming for the month includes a drop-in art workshop on Saturday, March 4 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm where the public is invited to try creating a Bridget Riley-inspired Op Art piece of their own that they can take with them.
A talk about the women of the Fluxus movement is scheduled for Thursday, March 23rd from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Museum. Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Central Michigan University’s Associate Professor of Art History, Rachael Barron Duncan, PhD will reference the SMS (Shit Must Stop) Portfolio work currently on view in the “Off Kilter, On Point” exhibition and she’ll highlight the role of women of the Fluxus movement as we celebrate Women’s History Month.
After the talk join in for a hands-on art making experience where you’ll become a Fluxus artist by creating your own Fluxus artworks and create your own Fluxkit, a type of attaché or box to keep of your collected Fluxus artwork in! Supplies will be on hand but please feel free to bring your own along with a box to compile everything into your own Fluxkit!
Then on March 25 from 6:30 – 9:30 pm the Museum will host “Dinner and a Movie with the Curator.” Enjoy an intimate gallery talk with “Off Kilter, On Point” curator Lynn Boland followed by dinner during a special screening of film on exhibiting artist Ray Johnson called “How to Draw a Bunny” directed by Detroit native John W. Walter. The film explores the life of Johnson, a Detroit-born pop, collage, and performance artist.
While at the Museum be sure to check out another new exhibition on view through April 29, 2023 “Jacob Lawrence: The Legend of John Brown from the Mott-Warsh Collection.” This exhibition features 22 screen-prints by African American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), about the controversial white abolitionist John Brown.
These exhibitions are supported in part by Michigan Arts and Culture Council and Michigan Humanities.
The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is located on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road, University Center, MI. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (989) 964-7125 or visit the Museum’s website at www.marshallfredericks.org.
