The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Exhibits Indonesion Artist Entang Wiharso

Written by Edward Smithson Friday, 18 May 2012 00:44

Kalamazoo, MI.— The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is pleased to present "Second Skin: Peeling Back the Layers", featuring work by contemporary Indonesian artist, Entang Wiharso, and curated by Dr. Mary-Louise Totton, Associate Professor of Asian/Pacific Art, Western Michigan University. According to Dr. Totton, "Currently one of Indonesia's most active international artists, Entang Wiharso compounds the narrative power and complex formats of the ancient local artistic genres of his homeland with a contemporary global outlook. His original voice is processed through a variety of mediums and idioms that explore issues of identity, power, love, and intolerance." "Second Skin: Peeling Back the Layers" is on view from September 10th through November 6th.

The exhibition looks at the complex socio-political realities of modern Indonesia through the metaphor of multiple skins, reflecting the layering of information, experience and personal/communal identity. The works on view include paintings, prints, large-scale puppets and wall-mounted sculptures. Inspired by the traditional Javanese shadow puppet forms of his childhood, Wiharso's recent works interweave the narrative traditions of Java with his contemporary observations regarding social issues that resonate across national boundaries. Through his work, the artist asserts that intolerance -- religious, ethnic, racial, political -- denies diversity and freedom of choice. The work of Indonesian artist Entang Wiharso, a rising star on the international art scene, is featured in conjunction with a complementary exhibition, Installation Arts: Indonesia, at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts at Western Michigan University. Both exhibitions were curated by Dr. Totton and provide an overview of contemporary art in Indonesia. The KIA will host a lecture by the curator, Dr. Mary-Louise Totton, on September 20th at 12 pm, entitled “Entang Wiharso: Black Goat and Second Skins.”

In 1924, the Kalamazoo Chapter of the American Federation of the Arts incorporated as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts to present classes and establish legal responsibility for the ownership of art objects.  In 1947 the KIA gained a permanent home when it purchased and a renovated a Victorian mansion at 421 West South Street. In the 1930s and 40s, distinguished guest lecturers such as Diego Rivera, Thomas Hart Benton, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier challenged and informed local audiences about the contemporary art world. An eclectic schedule of exhibitions included work by Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, Japanese prints and ceramics, African Art, Dutch old masters, and even an international kite collection that became a traveling exhibition. Annual juried competitions and exhibitions by local artists and students helped promote and encourage both new and established artists. In 1961, the KIA built a new facility, the Gilmore Art Center at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts at its current location. In 2006, the Art School was named the Kirk Newman Art School to recognize the artist and former Art School director who contributed so much to its development. Today over 100,000 visitors each year enjoy exciting temporary exhibitions, an outstanding permanent collection of nearly 4,000 works, programs, and events at the KIA. Nearly 3,000 students enroll annually in Kirk Newman Art School classes. The collection, originally developed to complement the KIA's art school, focuses on American painting, sculpture and ceramics, American and European works on paper from the 16th century onwards, photography and American art, from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century portraiture and landscape painting to modern and contemporary abstraction and figurative works, is the strength of the KIA's permanent collection. Significant works by Alexander Calder, William Merritt Chase, Dale Chihuly, Richard Diebenkorn, Janet Fish, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline and Andy Warhol are part of the collection. In recent years, the collection has been expanded to include Oceanic objects, Pre-Columbian gold and ceramics, African art and East Asian art. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.kiarts.org

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