Elaine L. Jacob Gallery to present Real and Imagined
Wayne Sate University’s Elaine L. Jacob Gallery is pleased to announce the presentation of its special exhibition Real and Imagined: Works of Art by Wayne State University Alumni Ed Fraga, Susan Hauptman and Carol Pylant, from April 20 through July 20, 2007. Real and Imagined features the work of three outstanding artists of national and international acclaim, possessing tremendous mastery of their media, working out of a tradition of representationalim, and all of whom are, as a matter of fact, graduates of fine arts programs at Wayne State University. These artists share a reverence for art of the past, an interest in symbolism, and approaches that blend highly realistic representation with fanstastic and imaginary imagery. In all, the works are evocative, compelling and meticulously crafted.
Like Pylant and Hauptman, artist Ed Fraga often incorporates traditional landscape, still life and portrait elements in his finely drawn and painted compositions. His narratives also frequently contain spiritual and religious references, in a manner that simultaneously evokes the real and the surreal. His explorations of the human condition are presented with a lushness that renders a seductive pathway into sometimes emotionally difficult places, such as the experience of the loss of innocence.
Fraga received his B.F.A. from Wayne State University. He is the recipient of awards and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Michigan Council for the Arts, ArtServe Michigan, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Fraga’s works are in the permanent collections of The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Cranbrook Art Museum, and BMW of North America, among others. The artist currently lives and works in Detroit.
Artist Susan Hauptman’s self-portraits and still lifes are executed in charcoal and pastel with a level of realism that is nearly tompe l’oeil. In the figurative works, the artist depicts her own face and head, with incredible verisimilitude, as androgynous, stern, and “naked” – without the vanities of make-up or coiffed hair. These clinically rendered heads are given various idealized bodies, sometimes clothed with frilly lingerie, conveying a sense of fantasy in their unlikely juxtaposition. Hauptman explores identity, gender, and the passing of time in works displaying extraordinary technical mastery.
Hauptman received her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her M.F.A. from Wayne State University. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Hauptman’s works are in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and The JPMorgan Chase Collection (New York), among others. She currently resides in New York City.
The paintings of artist Carol Pylant easily expose a career that has embraced a representational approach. Her intense formal and conceptual probing of spiritual subjects begs us to reflect on the interrelationship between people and place – the effect of an environment on the psyche of its inhabitants, our effect on the places in which we live, and the layers of history that become intertwined in our perception and spirituality. Pylant’s beautifully painted works are at once realistic and poetic, featuring landscape, nature, architectural and still life subject matter in metaphysical compositions.
Pylant received both her B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Wayne State University. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Regional Visual Arts Fellowship, and is in the collections of the Elvehjem Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Bowdoin College Museum of Art (Brunswick, Maine), and the American Express Corporation (New York), among others. Pylant is on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
“These artists are a great source of pride for the Department of Art and Art History, and a testament to the education provided by Wayne\'s studio art programs,” said Chair Tony Crowley. “The stellar quality of the work of Wayne’s alumni presents many opportunities to curate insightful and visually powerful exhibitions,” said Lisa Baylis Gonzalez, the newly appointed director of WSU’s galleries.
The opening reception for Real and Imagined will be at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery on Friday, April 20 from 5 – 8 pm, and is free and open to the general public. The Elaine L. Jacob Gallery is located at 480 W. Hancock, between Cass and Second, on the south end of WSU’s campus.