Catharina van Eetvelde ~ Cruise ~ at the Saint Louis Art Museum

Wednesday, 04 October 2006 18:05

St. Louis, MO - The Saint Louis Art Museum announces the opening of Cruise, the seventh installation in the Museum's New Media Series.  Exploring the influence of cross-fertilization in both nature and culture, Cruise is a drawn animation created by Catharina van Eetvelde (Belgian, born 1967) in collaboration with the poet Abigail Lang.

Early in the film, a voice speaks of “pollen blown across oceans,” while mutating images of nautical maps and topographical charts flow into territorial symbols.  Oceanographic terms spoken as poetry retain their literal meaning while also allowing for metaphorical associations.  Land resources of the artist’s native Belgium are compared with those of other seats of power, such as the Holy See, and icons of Italian and Dutch painters are superimposed on these territories, then melt away.

Catharina van Eetvelde studied at the University of Ghent and at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.  Her media work has been screened at galleries in Paris, Munich, and Aspern (the Netherlands), and at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona.

Curated by Robin Clark, associate curator of contemporary art, Cruise will be on view in Gallery 301 through November 30, 2006.

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the nation’s leading comprehensive art museums with collections that include works of art of exceptional quality from virtually every culture and time period...

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