Blue Wall Gallery - WKTV Journal

Sunset, Lake Michigan was one of seven Alten paintings recently gifted to Grand Valley by Anita Gilleo. (GVSU)

Grand Valley State University has several art exhibits opening this month. Below is a list of the university’s galleries and upcoming exhibitions.

“Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy”

Exhibition dates: ongoing

George and Barbara Gordon Gallery

DeVos Center, Building E, Room 103 and 202, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Gordon Gallery hours: Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; closed on holiday weekends

The German-born American artist Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) is often referred to as the dean of Michigan painters. Working in a traditional representational style, Alten incorporated the aesthetics and techniques of the Impressionist Movement in paintings infused with light and punctuated with deft brushwork. Based in Grand Rapids, Alten created more than 3,800 works over a more than 40-year career, including landscapes, seascapes, portraits and florals. Grand Valley State University holds the largest public collection in the world of Alten’s work.

“Water: Human Right or Commodity?”

Blue Wall Gallery, DeVos Center, Building B

Exhibition on display Jan. 7-June 21

This exhibition explores human rights in a world of increasingly limited natural resources; specifically, access to clean water. A result of the research and collaborations arranged by two Grand Valley State University social work faculty members, Paola León and Steven Smith, this exhibition includes images and descriptions of the challenges faced in El Salvador and Flint, Michigan. Organized into themes dealing with civic engagement, infrastructure, ownership/legislation, public health and scarcity/contamination, these materials provide local, national and international context to water rights. The El Salvador portion of the exhibition, focusing on the lack of running water in homes, social activism and contamination by the mining industry, was organized by León. Smith organized the Flint portion of the exhibition, documenting the ongoing issues and continuing recovery of the City of Flint’s tainted water supply.

VMA Sabbatical Showcase

Art Gallery, Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts

Exhibition on display Jan. 14-March 29

This sabbatical showcase will feature works by Grand Valley faculty members Brett Colley, Dellas Henke, Hoon Lee and Anthony Thompson.

“Plastination — The Art of Preservation”

Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall, Allendale Campus

Exhibition on display Jan. 14-June 21

Plastination is the process of infusing animal, human or plant tissues with a variety of plastic or silicone products to render the tissues odor-free, dry and permanently preserved for educational and instructional purposes. The process was invented by Gunther von Hagens in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and became popular through his many “Body Worlds” exhibitions around the world. Beginning in 2007, members of Grand Valley State University began studying plastination and investigating the opportunity to create a lab at the university. That became a reality in 2013, and since then, more than 300 specimens have been plastinated for use in a variety of teaching roles. This exhibition tells the story of plastination at Grand Valley and walks viewers through the process and uses of plastinates. It brings together more than 20 animal specimens from the lab – currently the only plastination lab in Michigan.

For more information about Grand Valley State University art exhibits, call (616) 331-2563 or visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.

“Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy”
Exhibition dates: ongoing
George and Barbara Gordon Gallery
DeVos Center, Building E, Room 103 and 202, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Gordon Gallery hours: Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; closed on holiday weekends

The German-born American artist, Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) is often referred to as the dean of Michigan painters. Working in a traditional representational style, Alten incorporated the aesthetics and techniques of the Impressionist Movement in paintings infused with light and punctuated with deft brushwork. Based in Grand Rapids, Alten created more than 3,800 works over a more than 40-year career, including landscapes, seascapes, portraits and florals. Grand Valley State University holds the largest public collection of Alten’s work in the world.

“Drawn from the Desert: Australian Aboriginal Paintings from the Central and Western Deserts”
Exhibit on display through March 2, 2018
Kirkhof Center Gallery, Allendale Campus

From 1940-1960, the Australian government forced Aboriginal groups off their lands and into organized communities of the Central Desert region and along the northern coast. Papunya, located about 150 miles northwest of Alice Springs, was the final community established to collect these displaced groups, and where the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art movement began. This exhibition is drawn out of a recent gift of Australian Aboriginal paintings to Grand Valley State University, created by artists from Papunya and the surrounding region. It features artwork that provides insight into Aboriginal life, retellings of important ancient stories and symbols, and the sacred sites of this vast and arid landscape.

“2017 SeoulTech & GVSU Art & Design Student Exchange Exhibition”
Exhibit on display through December 8
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall (first floor), Allendale Campus

This exhibition continues the collaboration between Grand Valley State University and Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech), that was started in 2008. It features 40 photographs of artwork by SeoulTech art students, while a similar number of photographs by GVSU art and design students were sent to South Korea for a partner exhibition.

“Landscapes, Color & Light: Paintings by Virginia Jenkins”
Exhibition dates: December 15, 2017-March 2, 2018
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall (first floor), Allendale Campus

Virginia Jenkins is a professor and former chair of the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Grand Valley State University. Landscape forms and images have been the primary focus of her work for over two decades, and her areas of specialty are in painting, drawing and mixed media. This exhibition is drawn from a recent series created in response to the landscape of the Northwest coast of the United States.

“Traveling with the Bangalore Wanderlusters: Reflections on a Semester in India by Maya Grant”
Exhibition on display through March 2, 2018
Blue Wall Gallery (Building B), DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

In the fall of 2016, Maya Grant travelled to India on a study abroad scholarship from the GVSU Padnos International Center. Grant, a sociology major, was led to India by a need to escape and explore. She studied at Christ University in Bengaluru, volunteered at a local non-profit and captured her experiences and interactions through photography. On the weekends, Grant joined a group of expats called the Bangalore Wanderlusters, and traveled throughout Karnataka and its neighboring states. This exhibition includes more than 25 photographs documenting her experiences studying abroad, and exploring the landscape and people of India.

For more information about Art Gallery exhibitions, visit gvsu.edu/artgallery or call 616-331-3638.