Celebration of Mississippi River Is Among Three Exhibits
Opening at AMUM

For release: August 28, 2008
For press information, contact Leslie Luebbers at 901/678-2224

Three exhibits, including an installation celebrating the greatest American river, will be on display at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis Sept. 6 through Nov. 1. The exhibits will open with a free public reception Friday, Sept. 5, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Margaret Cogswell's "Mississippi River Fugues"

A drawing of an 18th century dredging machine inspires the centerpiece of Cogswell’s installation, which is constructed of industrial materials including steel, pipe, and HVAC ducting suspended between the walls of AMUM’s main gallery. River buoys with oscillating heads house the projectors throwing video images of the Mississippi and related Delta industries onto the walls of the museum.

The massive wheels of the dredging machine also serve as a projection screen for imagery from her three years of research and documentation in preparation for the installation. Following the musical structure of the fugue, and contained in replicas of illuminated lanterns, voices and musical fragments introduce viewers to the exhibition.

“Anybody and Nobody: Andy Warhol Photographs” will be on display in Gallery B. The photographs were a gift to the University from The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts. Christia Leigh Blankenship, who graduated from the U of M with a B.F.A. in 2006, curated the exhibition.

In the 1960s, Warhol’s New York City studio, The Factory, became the center of the pop art movement. This building was always filled with a cross section of the known and unknown, anybody and nobody, all vying for their 15 minutes of fame with the legendary photographer, filmmaker, and painter. The Polaroid and black-and-white prints in this exhibition are just a small selection from the thousands of photographs Warhol took throughout his life, chronicling the society around him.

“Eric J. Painter: The Complete History of Paint-ure (2007 AD - 2008 AD)” will be on exhibit in ArtLab, an exhibition space open to proposals from artists from across the United States. The space is dedicated to showcasing the new, the non-mainstream, and the experimental in art. Painter’s installation of paintings and sculpture is another example of how an ArtLab exhibition can challenge the viewer. Painter coined the word “paint-ure” to describe his work, a combination of painting and sculpture.

Painter earned a B.F.A. degree from the U of M in 1987. He works in paint as well as metal, and examples of his work are in numerous private collections. In the 2008 U of M Juried Student Exhibition, Painter was awarded a Special Recognition Award by internationally known sculptor Chakaia Booker.

Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Admission is free.  The museum is located on the eastern side of the Communication and Fine Arts Building, which is situated immediately to the east of the Innovation Drive parking garage.  A campus map is available online at:  http://map.memphis.edu