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Daily Telegram Newspaper, Adrian MI 2001 Alumnae Art Exhibition at Klemm Gallery The Klemm Gallery at Siena Heights University will showcase the artwork of two BFA alumnae, Sara Chapman (class of 1995) and Kathy Morris-Beekman (class of 1993) in an exhibition that runs from August 28 to September 23. Chapman will install digital images and three artist's videos. Morris-Beekman will exhibit recent pastel drawings. In their art, both artists reveal a common fascination with native-American cultures. Chapman and Morris-Beekman will discuss their art in the gallery on Friday, September 21 at 7:00, followed by a reception in their honor. Chapman has created an art installation especially for the Klemm gallery, in which one video monitor greets the visitor, another "directs and bosses" the visitor around and a third animates the digital images that appear framed on the wall. A mock gift shop marketing the images that the viewer has just seen completes the installation. Chapman, who describes herself as "a Hispanic woman" writes that her work is a reflection of her experience as an American who has lived in Mexico for a year and a half. "My work deals with the issue of tradition and change in contemporary culture," she writes. "Through humor and metaphor, I play on ideas of longing, gender identity and spirituality by juxtaposing ancient and traditional cultural iconography of Mexico to contemporary images and objects of U.S. culture." Morris-Beekman has produced a series of appealing pastel drawings depicting adobe architecture and pueblo settlements in the American Southwest. She writes: "My first love is art and my second archaeology. Since I am interested in the past and allured by things that are mysterious, it is only natural that I create imagery based upon my archaeological adventures and travels to distant lands. My art represents places I have been and places I would like to go." Evoking the artistic style of the American modernist painter Georgia O'Keeffe, Morris-Beekman simplifies and flattens real and imaginary architectural forms, selects subtly contrasting colors and carefully places architectural elements within her compositions to create subtle and sustained visual interest. The Klemm Gallery is located in Studio Angelico on the Adrian campus of Siena Heights University. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm and Sunday noon to 4 pm. The Alumnae exhibition, gallery talk and reception are free and open to the public. |