Respond

RESPOND

Heidi Neff John Shipman Stuart Stein Christine Buckton Tillman

presented by the art + art history department

Goucher College

R o s e n b erg G a l l e ry

Site-specific and/or site-responsive installation artwork is created for a certain place.

The artist researches and interprets a site’s unique cultural matrix of characteristics and topographies— architectural, historical, social, environmental—and, in the process, discovers the space’s hidden meanings and develops methods to amplify that meaning.

By exploring and experimenting in this way, an artist can also expand their personal artistic vocabulary.

In Respond, Heidi Neff, John Shipman, Stuart Stein, and Christine Buckton Tillman “respond” directly to the architecture and space of the Rosenberg Gallery and Goucher’s campus and to the college’s educational purpose.

Laura Amussen, curator

Heidi Neff When Heidi Neff was asked to respond to the space in the Rosenberg Gallery, the ceiling immediately caught her eye.

Over the past few years, Neff has completed a series of paintings loosely based on Baroque trompe l’oeil paintings in churches, but this was the first time she would have the opportunity to paint directly on a ceiling. The acoustic ceiling tiles in the Rosenberg gallery could easily be replaced with her own painted tiles.

Neff’s earlier “church ceiling paintings” were filled with figures engaged in amorous activities; her work explores man’s search, through sex and religion, for passion and meaning in life. In some cases, this search ends positively, but in others, a sense of meaninglessness, malaise, or general dissatisfaction results. No matter the result, people keep searching; Neff is inspired by the search.

In Something is missing, helicopters search for something against a night sky. The gallery’s permanent lights are incorporated into the helicopter searchlights, and a lone figure hangs on the ceiling support grid for dear life. The title of the piece is incorporated as skywriting.

Something is missing refers to human beings’ innate drive to search for something more in life and also to personal loss in Neff’s own life. Neff feels that the piece is a hopeful one—the helicopters continue their search against all odds.

Something is missing, 2009 (detail)

Acrylic on Ceiling Tiles

Site-Specific Installation

Something is missing, 2009

Acrylic on Ceiling Tiles

Site-Specific Installation

John Shipman

For many years, John Shipman has examined personal and universal forms of love, hoping to understand the irrational truths of the heart and communicate his findings through his art. Shipman believes that the irrational, when given proper attention, can be more revealing than the rational—and can expose the heart and soul, the humane in the human.

The main thrust of Shipman’s work is love. A love that transcends the mind. A love that is both individual and universal.

A love that, in all its implausible magic, made the moon attainable well before the advent of rocket science. A love that responds to the questions, “Who am I? Why am I here?”

From My Heart, 2009

Mixed Media on Wall

Site-Specific Installation

Stuart Stein’s current work, Jump, Fall, orchestrates many variable elements into a rhythmic whole; it seeks an overall consistency of traditional mark making within a digital format. Each print represents a chronological stage of the creative process, as well as represents a larger process, and each print reflects its place in the larger whole. All of the wall work appears in a context of tree forms, which contrast the changing nature of man-made forms found throughout the work.

The title of the piece reflects the themes—creation vs. destruction, growth vs. decay, nature vs. invention—exposed in the work.

Stuart Stein

Jump, Fall, 2009

Digital Prints and Video Projection

Site-Specific Installation

Jump, Fall, 2009

Digital Prints and Video Projection

Site-Specific Installation

Christine Buckton Tillman

Christine Buckton Tillman’s piece, Celebratory Response, is a festive and explosive wall drawing that celebrates the Rosenberg Gallery’s oversized wooden molding.

Tillman’s instinct was to respond to the unique bumper-like molding that both safeguards the artwork on display and provides a visual buffer between the carpet and the wall. To Tillman, the buffer is unusual and funny, and she wanted to celebrate it—handmade colored dots and wood grain contact paper ‘hydrangeas’ interact with the curious architecture, showcasing the beauty of each element.

Tillman strongly believes that materials have meaning; she sees wood grain contact paper as one of the ultimate materials with which to respond to the role of artificial nature in our culture. Tillman has been working with wood grain contact paper since 2002. Her wood grain wall pieces have twice earned her finalist status for the prestigious Trawick prize and have been seen locally at Area 405 and in permanent installation at Atomic Books in Baltimore.

Celebratory Response, 2009

Mixed Media on Wall

Site-Specific Installation

Celebratory Response, 2009

Mixed Media on Wall

Site-Specific Installation

RESPOND February 2 – March 8, 2009 Opening Reception: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 6-8 p.m.

Painters John Shipman and Heidi Neff and mixed-media artists Christine Buckton Tillman and Stuart Stein respond to the architecture of Rosenberg Gallery, creating site-specific paintings and mixed-media installations directly on the walls and ceiling of the gallery.

Directions

Baltimore Beltway, I-695, to exit 27A. Make first left onto campus.

Gallery Hours

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Call 410.337.6333 for evening and weekend hours.

www.goucher.edu/rosenberg

C9299-1/09

The Rosenberg Gallery program is funded with the assistance of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the NEA, and the Baltimore County Commission on the Arts and Sciences.