ONEONTA, N.Y. --
A traveling exhibit entitled
"Two Dogs/One
Not Found: Nine Louisiana Artists Respond to the Storms of 2005" will
premiere at the
Fine Arts Gallery of the SUNY College at Oneonta on Wednesday, January
24, and remain on display until March 16. The exhibit features the work of
nine artists from Louisiana who created new pieces of art to explore their
experiences during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In conjunction with the
exhibit, "The Daily Star" will present "Water, Mud, Despair and Recovery," a
show of local photos of the June 2006 floods by "Star" photographers Julie
Lewis and Anita Briggs, in the College's New Gallery.
Admission to all events in the series is complimentary, and members of the
community are invited to attend.
The College will offer an opening reception for the exhibits on Wednesday,
January 24, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Louisiana artist Nancy Sharon Collins will
present the keynote address for the Gulf Coast exhibit, "What Happens when
the Grid Goes Down," at 6 p.m. that evening in the Hamblin Theater. The Gulf
Coast exhibition is curated by Michael Wyshock of the College's Art
Department, who moved to the Oneonta area from Thibodaux, Louisiana, after
the storms that ravaged the region in 2005.
In addition to Collins, a graphic designer, the work of eight other
prominent Louisiana artists will be featured in the "Two Dogs" exhibit: John
T. Scott, whose art includes painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking;
Patricia "Muffin" Sills, who works in sculpture, photography, and
installation; photographer John Mack Collins; Dennis Sipiorski, who creates
ceramics and paintings; Yvonne James, who specializes in sculpture
installation; Karin Eberhardt, who creates digital prints; Ron Bechet, whose
work includes paintings and drawings; and Wyshock, whose art includes
sculpture, drawing, painting, and video installation.
The poster for "Two Dogs" features a timeline of geological events leading
to Hurricane Katrina by Dr. Stephen A. Nelson, Chair of the Department of
Earth and Environmental Studies at Tulane University; an article by Bob
Marshall, staff writer for the "Times Picayune" of New Orleans; an excerpt
from a recent article on the status of the Louisiana Gulf Coast by Nancy
Collins, who also designed the poster; and several poems by Andy Young of
New Orleans.
The exhibition title is based on the tagging visual used as artwork for the
"Two Dogs/One Not Found" poster, a photograph by New Orleans graphic
designer Tom Varisco. The title refers to the marks spray painted on
residences by relief workers determining life or death in houses and
buildings in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The spray-painted "tags"
became ubiquitous graffiti-like decorations in the affected area. Some of
the tags are also part of Collins' keynote address because their brevity and
direct meaning are powerful.
Following its premiere at SUNY-Oneonta, "Two Dogs" will travel to New
Orleans, where it will be featured at Xavier University in March. The
exhibition is supported by the SUNY College at Oneonta, Xavier University of
New Orleans, the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) New Orleans
Chapter, and Congressman Charlie Melancon of the Third Congressional
District in Louisiana.
As a parallel exhibition in conjunction with "Two Dogs," "Water, Mud,
Despair and Recovery" by photographers Julie Lewis and Anita Briggs will
document the devastation in Otsego and Delaware Counties caused by the June
2006 floods.
The Fine Arts Gallery and the New Gallery are both located in the Fine Arts
Building at SUNY-Oneonta. The galleries are open Monday through Friday from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the College is in session. More information about the
exhibits or the gallery is available from Tim Sheesley, Director of the Fine
Arts Gallery, at (607) 436-2445.
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