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The Boston University Art Gallery Presents Offspring: Representations of Children in Contemporary Visual Culture Exhibition Dates: September 5, 2006 – October 8, 2006 Opening Reception: Thursday, September 7, 2006, 6-8 PM Boston — The Boston University Art Gallery (BUAG) opens its season on September 5 with an exciting contemporary exhibition, Offspring: Representations of Children in Contemporary Visual Culture. Featuring works by an impressive and diverse group of artists working in painting, photography and film, the exhibition seeks to explore our real and imagined perceptions of children in the early 21st century. Offspring is designed as a selected study of images of children that combines works by nine artists (six American and three international), who all have established reputations in the United States. Particularly of note, this will be the first Boston showing by photographer Jill Greenberg, who has recently received significant attention, including spots on “Good Morning America” as well as ABC and CBS news, for her images of crying children. Loretta Lux, Nicholas Prior and Stephen Chalmers will also make their debut in Boston at this exhibition. Other featured artists include Christin Couture, Nicky Hoberman, Melora Kuhn, Maria Marshall, and Jane Smaldone (project bios available upon request). Concentrating on works completed within the past six years, the selection of images in Offspring address the ways that children are perceived and visualized in America at the turn of the 21st century. According to Stacey McCarroll Cutshaw, Exhibition Curator and Director & Curator of the Boston University Art Gallery, “the expansion of the ‘baby culture’ in the U.S., which is evident by the strong markets in children’s literature, clothing and advertising, as well as our fascination with the babies of celebrities, keeps bringing representations of children to the forefront of our consciousness.” To this end, the exhibition investigates the complicated cultural dynamic where images of children can be both celebrated and condemned. With images of children continuing to pervade contemporary American culture, causing a range of reactions, Offspring presents the opportunity to view art that both manipulates and redefines these representations. Further, each artist incorporates imagery and ideas from popular consciousness, including the mass media, film, television, advertising, history and common conceptions of the family photograph and the family album. Images and objects pulled from advertising and popular culture are also used in the exhibition to create a broader visual context for comparison. “Offspring offers insight on the ways that children are envisioned and understood in the current cultural climate, and tells us much about the ways we perceive and comprehend ourselves,” said Curator McCarroll Cutshaw. Dedicated to serving the public of New England as well as the University community, the Boston University Art Gallery (BUAG) is a non-profit art gallery geared toward an interdisciplinary interpretation of art and culture. Maintaining an ongoing exhibition schedule in its current location on Commonwealth Avenue since 1958, exhibitions focus on international, national, and regional art developments, chiefly in the 20th century. BUAG has a particular commitment to offer a culturally inclusive view of art, one that expands the boundaries of museum exhibitions. BUAG is located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, at the Stone Gallery inside the College of Fine Arts building on the Boston University campus (BU West T stop on the “B” Green Line). Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 am – 5 pm, Saturday & Sunday 1 – 5 pm. For more information please visit www.bu.edu/art. IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST EXHIBITION AND GALLERY EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Friday, September 8, 4:00 PM GALLERY TALK: Thursday, September 21, 4:00 PM GALLERY TALK: Thursday, October 5, 4:00 PM |
