The Land: The Art of Bill Hosterman and Ed Wong-Ligda
September 19 through December 15, 2019
Michael and Kay Olthoff Gallery
The Land: The Art of Bill Hosterman and Ed Wong-Ligda is the result of several years of independent experimentation by printmaker Bill Hosterman and illustrator and painter Ed Wong-Ligda and the artists’ shared conversations regarding the visual, expressive, and thematic potential of the land and the flora and fauna that populate it.
How we perceive, interact with, and shape the natural landscape informs Hosterman’s and Wong-Ligda’s prints, drawings, and paintings. Hosterman’s twisting, fantastical landscapes are entwined with lush vegetation, jagged rock faces, birds, boats, and forests, representing his thoughts on the human form and human desires and how both directly affect the land. For Wong-Ligda, the elements of the landscape become characters in a literary or theatrical drama as he explores the choreography and pacing of their visual interactions in dreamlike expanses. Combined, the artworks of these artists offer an invitation to consider the classical landscape in new ways.
Bill Hosterman is an Associate Professor of drawing, printmaking, and foundations in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Grand Valley State University and Faculty Director of the GVSU Padnos Student Visual and Media Arts Gallery. Now retired, Ed Wong-Ligda was a Professor and head of the illustration program at GVSU. He has worked with numerous clients and participated in multiple artist-in-residency programs as a professional painter and illustrator.
Bill Hosterman, Guide, etching and watercolor, 2014-2017
Ed Wong-Ligda, Black Hills Birds, oil on canvas, 2014
RELATED PROGRAMS
Opening Event
Thursday, September 19
5:30 pm Reception | 7:00 pm Lecture
The MMA invites the public to the opening reception for The Land: The Art of Bill Hosterman and Ed Wong-Ligda. The artists will talk about their work at a lecture after the reception, starting at 7:00 pm. Event is free and open to the public.
Little Landscapes Super Saturday
Saturday, October 12
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Free Family Fun Day–Experience landscapes at the MMA with a family film, exhibition tours, and a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) landscape art activity in the classroom. Free admission and activities are underwritten by Arconic – Whitehall Operations.
91st Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition
September 5 through November 13, 2019
L. C. and Margaret Walker Galleries
The Exhibition
The Michigan Contemporary continues the museum’s well-established legacy of showcasing the work of Michigan artists, from talented beginners to accomplished professionals in the longest running juried show of its kind in Michigan. The exhibition presents a look at the issues, themes, and materials inspiring today’s Michigan artists. This year’s juried show features 126 works by 107 artists and includes painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, and installation. The artwork selection is meant to engage, challenge, and inspire conversation. The Muskegon Museum of Art’s 91st Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition (formerly the annual Regional Exhibition) opens at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 5 and runs through November 13, 2019.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
AWARDS
https://muskegonartmuseum.org/media-room/images/91st-michigan-contemporary-art-exhibition-winners/
Best of Show | $1,500
Bowen Kline, Romeo (MI), Workday
2nd Place | $1,000
Jillian Dickson, Kentwood, Dear, I’ll Paint You a Drawing Forever
3rd Place | $750
Emily Mayo, Grand Rapids, Untitled #2
Honorable Mention | $150
Patricia Constantine, Grand Rapids, Eeka
John Dempsey, Flint, Glare #16: Ascender
Honorable Mention | $150
Gloria Joseph, Dearborn, Opening
Director’s Choice | $500
Scott Provonche, Muskegon, The Fish Rots from the Head II
Jeanne Bieri, Grosse Pointe Farms, Agent Orange Drift and Mended Wedding Ring Quilt
Gordon Hall Memorial Award | $300
Ilene Curts-Thayer, Mason, 58 Objects
Friends of Art Award | $250
Steve Loar, East Grand Rapids, Holland Bowl Mill Collaboration – Dialogue
Phil Chmura Memorial Award | $200
Vicki Cook, Watervliet, Pierced
Revel Award | $200
Michelle Bennett, Detroit, Cheryl
West Michigan Potters Guild Eleanore Smith Memorial Ceramics Award | $150
Madeline Kaczmarczyk, Rockford, Generational Tea
Robert and Veronica Youngman Memorial Award for Graphic Arts | $150
Kelly Vander Kley, Mattawan, Intravenous
Muskegon Museum of Art Docent’s Choice | $100
Lou Rizzolo, Glenn, Dancing Unknowns
About the Show & Curator’s Statement
The Michigan Contemporary continues the museum’s well-established legacy of showcasing the work of Michigan artists, from talented beginners to accomplished professionals in the longest running juried show of its kind in Michigan. According to Art Martin, MMA Director of Collections and Exhibitions/Senior Curator, “The exhibition presents a look at the issues, themes, and materials inspiring today’s Michigan artists. The artwork is meant to engage, challenge, and inspire conversation.”
Juror Statement
The works in the exhibition were selected by juror Amy Chaloupka, Curator of Art at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA and an art/art history instructor at Western Washington University. In a Juror Statement, Chaloupka commented that she was “truly astounded by the caliber and range in the grouping of over 700 works of art” and “I saw interesting patterns and connections between works that felt regionally specific yet universally resonant.”
Underwriters
ARTIST INFORMATION
Art Pickup: Accepted entries must remain in the exhibition through Wednesday, November 13, 2019.
MMA staff will return shipped artworks in the packing materials they arrived in. Return of shipped artwork will begin Friday, November 15, 2019.
In person pickup:
November 14, Thursday, 11:00 am – 4:30 pm
November 15, Friday, 11:00 am – 4:30 pm
November 16, Saturday, 11:00 am – 4:30 pm
Due to limited storage, prompt pickup is required. Please call if you must make special pickup arrangements.
Written authorization, along with the notification email, is required for the MMA to release work to anyone other than the artist. Shipment costs are the responsibility of the artist.
Works not picked up by December 27, 2019 will be considered abandoned and will be discarded.
92nd Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition: September 17 – November 18, 2020
Entry will open in April 2020. Information will be posted during the winter months.
Undying Traditions: Memento Mori
September 12 through January 5, 2020
Robert Steven Connett
Dust
Acrylic on wood panel
2019
Courtesy of the artist
Alcoa Foundation Gallery
Memento mori (which translates to “remember death”) is a Medieval Latin Christian philosophy that encourages reflection on mortality, on the inevitability of death, and the transience of mortal pleasures and accomplishments.
The memento mori is typically expressed through the still life, incorporating the human skull with various symbols of time and decay. This tradition includes the danse macabre, a skeletal Death dancing away with the rich and poor alike, and the vanitas, a memento mori that depicts objects associated with physical pleasures such as musical instruments and food. In the Christian tradition, memento mori artworks were intended to remind the viewer that their death was assured and their focus should thus be on the spiritual and not the earthly.
Contemporary artists continue to explore this rich tradition in images that strongly reference their precursors. Skulls and flowers continue to fascinate artist and viewer alike. Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art, Undying Traditions: Memento Mori brings together artists from across the United States currently exploring themes of death and earthly pleasure. From intricate paintings, to photography and sculpture, these artists offer us insights into our collective fascination with death.
Maria Tomasula, Anatomy Lesson, 2019
Featured Artists
Landis Blair, David Cahill, Robert Steven Connett, David Gluck, Kate MacDowell, Jeanette May, Chris Peters, Daniel Sprick, Katherine Stone, Paulette Tavormina, Maria Tomasula, and Will Wilson
(C)Paulette Tavormina (American, born 1949)
Vanitas IV (Dreams), After A.C.
Archival pigment print, 2015
Museum purchase, through the gifts of the Bob and Mary Sandling Estate, Ruth Frank, Kent and Gayle Brown, Mrs. Walter Shirlaw, and Mr. I.L. Butterfield, by exchange. 2018.5
Image courtesy the artist and Robert Mann Gallery, New York
Will Wilson
Alchemy
Oil on linen
2011
Courtesy of the artist
Kate MacDowell
Memento Mori 2
Hand built porcelain, glazed
2015
Courtesy of Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL
RELATED PROGRAMS
Opening Event
Thursday, September 12
5:30 pm Reception | 7:00 pm Lecture
Join us for refreshments and a lecture by Art Martin, MMA Director of Collections and Exhibitions/Senior Curator. Event is free and open to the public.
Open Mic Night with Kumasi Mack
Thursday, October 10
6:00 – 8:00 pm, doors open at 5:30 pm
Join us for our second open mic night hosted by local poet Kumasi Mack. Kumasi, alongside his DJ and two featured artists, will provide a night of spoken word at the MMA. Spoken word pieces will relate to themes explored in the Undying Traditions exhibition. Crowd participation welcome. FREE.
Brown Bag Film
Food for the Ancestors: The Mexican Celebration of the Days of the Dead
Thursday, October 24
12:15 pm, doors open at noon
Food for the Ancestors explores the fabulous festival, Day of the Dead, as it is done in the culturally rich state of Puebla. Learn about special holiday foods, rituals, artwork, and more. Free admission, coffee, and cookies. Paid admission required to enter galleries.
Passion and Perversity: The Inner Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe
Conceived, Arranged, and Performed by Tom Harryman
Saturday, November 2
5:00 pm Cocktail Hour
6:00 pm Performance
This one act play examines the inner workings of this master of suspense through Poe’s letters, stories, & poems including The Imp of the Perverse, Lenore, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and others.
$12 advance / $10 MMA Member / $15 at the door. Call 231.720.2580 to order advance tickets.
Passion and Perversity: The Inner Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe
Courtesy of Tom Harryman
