UPCOMING EXHIBITS
The Sculpture of Albert Paley
October 30, 2010 – January 23, 2011
Organized by the Clay Center
Geometric, Staccato and Lyrical
Saturday, October 30, 2 pm, Albert Paley
Saturday, December 11, 2 pm – Interpreting “Hallelujah” Through Its Makers with panelists Jud Ham, Ham Engineering; Michele Hobin, Maple Grove Enterprises; Jeff Jubenville, Paley Studios; and John Strickland, MCS Construction
Saturday, January 15, 2 pm, “Hallelujah” - A Dialog with the Art Community with panelists Paula Clendenin, Jonathan Cox, Chris Dutch and Robin Hammer
Sponsored by the WV Humanities Council
In October 2009 the Clay Center dedicated a 64 foot tall, 198,000 pound Albert Paley sculpture entitled Hallelujah. In a two-year period the project went from sketches and a cardboard maquette, to engineering drawings and the final monumental corten steel, bronze and stainless steel sculpture. Inspired by the process of this commission and questions from the community, Clay Center staff decided to organize a Paley exhibition. This exhibition explores the design and fabricating process of Paley’s most compelling site specific works. Curated by the Clay Center’s curator of art, Barbara Racker, in collaboration with Paley Studios, the exhibition includes drawings, photographs, prints and sculptural maquettes. Albert Paley
Hallelujah
Corten steel, stainless steel, bronze
40’ x 60’
Collection of the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of WV
Gift of the McGee Foundation in the name of Lyell B. Clay and the parents of
John and Ruth McGee, Mr. and Mrs. H.T. McGee and Mr. and Mrs. H.T. Bouknight
NASA / ART: 50 Years of Exploration
February 12 - May 6, 2011
Lectures:
Tuesday, March 15, 6 pm - Overview of the NASA Collection by curator Bertram Ulrich
Tuesday April 19, 6 pm – Is There Art on Other Planets? by Dr. David Grinspoon, Curator of Astrobiology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Sponsored by: West Virginia Humanities Council
NASA’s historic triumphs and pioneering legacy are well known to millions, but the inspiring rocket launches, moon landings and planetary explorations also have had an impact on the imaginations of America’s leading artists. NASA / ART: 50 Years of Exploration, a traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution, features 74 works created by some of America's leading artists. The exhibition contains almost a half-century of creations by artists as diverse as Kahn and Selesnick, Annie Leibovitz, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik and William Wegman. Curated from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum, the exhibit includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and other media. These works—ranging from the illustrative to the abstract—offer unparalleled insight into the private and personal moments, triumphant victories and tragic accidents that form the storied history of NASA.
William Wegman
Chip and Batty Explore Space, 2001;
Triptych, 38 x 31 each panel
Art or Science? from the Permanent Collection
January 5 – April 3, 2011
Organized by the Clay Center
Art is science made clear. – Jean Cocteau
Curated from the Clay Center’s permanent collection, works in this exhibition reference many scientific fields; the exhibition themes are: Op Art, Cubism and the Theory of Relativity, and Physics and Metaphysics. Richard Anuszkiewicz, Stuart Davis, Nancy Graves, Blanche Lazzell, George Rickey and Victor Vasarely are among the most notable artists.
Thomas Downing ( American, 1928 - 1985)
Untitled, 1967 - 68
Acrylic on canvas
1978 Gift of Richard and Patricia Madlener
New Acquisitions
January 5 – April 3, 2011
Organized by the Clay Center
This special gift from the estate of Mary Price Ratrie consists of twelve paintings by 19th and early 20th century American artists and one 19th century French painter, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. Among the works are watercolors by Alexander Wyant and John Singer Sargent, still lifes by American Impressionists Joseph Rodefer DeCamp and William McGregor Paxton, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Martin Johnson Heade. The collection also includes an early floral still life by Grant Wood.