#smcmfineart

[boydengallery]

Sheila Hicks (b. 1934) is an American artist who creates a variety of artworks primarily utilizing a unique medium -- textiles and fibers. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Art, with a concentration in painting. From 1957 to 1958, Hicks lived and traveled in Chile on a Fulbright scholarship. She remained in South America until 1964, where she began to work with textiles and fibers. Over the course of her career, Hicks has opened workshops in Morocco and India, bolstering her international presence. In 2017, she represented the United States in the Venice Biennale, an international contemporary art exhibition. Hicks currently lives and works in Paris, France. . . Hicks’ training as a painter influences her art in the way she works with color. She essentially “paints with thread”, weaving together strands of varying shades within each cord she creates. Much like an Impressionist painting, the difference in color hue becomes more apparent the closer you look, but your eye blends them together the further away you are. This effect is apparent in this sculptural piece, “Paris ‘85”. Despite the variance in scale and form of her pieces, her consciousness of color is evident throughout her work. . . Sheila Hicks, “Paris ‘85” 1985. Textile sculpture. Donated by E.M. Warburg Pincus to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. . . #WomensHistoryMonth #SMCMfineart #SheilaHicks #Textile #Sculpture #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Sheila Hicks (b. 1934) is an American artist who creates a variety of artworks primarily utilizing a unique medium -- textiles and fibers. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Art, with a concentration in painting. From 1957 to 1958, Hicks lived and traveled in Chile on a Fulbright scholarship. She remained in South America until 1964, where she began to work with textiles and fibers. Over the course of her career, Hicks has opened workshops in Morocco and India, bolstering her international presence. In 2017, she represented the United States in the Venice Biennale, an international contemporary art exhibition. Hicks currently lives and works in Paris, France. . . Hicks’ training as a painter influences her art in the way she works with color. She essentially “paints with thread”, weaving together strands of varying shades within each cord she creates. Much like an Impressionist painting, the difference in color hue becomes more apparent the closer you look, but your eye blends them together the further away you are. This effect is apparent in this sculptural piece, “Paris ‘85”. Despite the variance in scale and form of her pieces, her consciousness of color is evident throughout her work. . . Sheila Hicks, “Paris ‘85” 1985. Textile sculpture. Donated by E.M. Warburg Pincus to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. . . #WomensHistoryMonth #SMCMfineart #SheilaHicks #Textile #Sculpture #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Today we highlight a second work by Palestinian artist Juliana Seraphim (b. 1934). Her surrealist prints evoke dream worlds and distant realities made up of intricate line patterns. This print, “Asturias II” is part of a series based on Nobel Laureates in Literature. Seraphim created 27 prints for this series which featured writers like Yasanuri Kawabata, St. John Perse, T.S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Thomas Mann, Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Erik-Axel Karlfeldt, and the subject of this print, Miguel Angel Asturias. . . Asturias was a Guatemalan author and poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967. Seraphim, familiar with the work of Asturias, incorporated themes from his writing into this piece, which features Asturias’ signature in the lower left-hand corner. . . Juliana Seraphim, “Asturias II” 1971. Etching print. . . #WomensHistoryMonth #JulianaSeraphim #Etchingprint #SMCM #SMCMfineart #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Barbara Lekberg (b. 1925) is an American sculptor who started her career in New York City amidst the energy of the post-WWII art world. She was born in Portland, Oregon and earned her B.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Iowa from 1942 to 1946, a program that awarded more graduate arts degrees than any other university to veterans on the G.I. Bill. . . Lekberg moved to New York City, earning a place as a female sculptor in an art world run by male artists. She expanded her skills with metal at the SculptureCenter and her use of the oxyacetylene welding technique allowed her to easily weld together strips of metal. That technique can be seen in the drapery and gaping chest cavern of “Welcome”. This element of decay is present in some of her other work, but many of her sculptures focus on themes of movement and emotion. Lekberg uses a seemingly inflexible metal to create figures mid-dance or falling, emoting through movement. . . Barbara Lekberg, “Welcome” n.d. Welded steel sculpture. Donated by Dr. James Rudel to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. . . #WomensHistoryMonth #BarbaraLekberg #Sculpture #SMCM #SMCMfineart #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Carolyn May is an artist who grew up in New York, where she first was exposed to and studied art. She earned a bachelor's degree in art from Connecticut College and moved to Boston where she began producing works inspired by the urban environment. May continued producing landscapes of both urban and natural environments during her travels throughout the Southwest, Italy, and rural France. . . Beyond these landscapes, May painted a series of personal portraits of friends and family, including some dogs and cats. May’s portraits capture the essence of each sitter with simple backgrounds and a sense of familiarity suggested by their gaze. This work, “Self-Portrait with Shell” is a combination of her portraiture and her fascination with elements of the natural world. . . Carolyn May, “Self-Portrait with Shell” 1972. Aquatec on canvas. Donated by Leonard Bocour to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. . . #WomensHistoryMonth #SMCM #SMCMfineart #CarolynMay #SelfPortrait #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Ann Chernow (b. 1936) is an American artist whose most prolific works center on film noir actresses of the 1930s and 1940s. These paintings depict impressions of leading ladies, caught in a cinematic moment. They simultaneously create a sense of nostalgia and deja vu in that they call back to the movies of the past, but are reinterpreted to represent universal themes and traits. . . Chernow earned her Bachelor’s and Master in Fine Arts from New York University and continued producing art up through the present. In addition to her work with paint, Chernow also creates lithographic prints, illustrations, and etchings. Pieces of her work can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Chernow’s hometown. . . Ann Chernow, “Ella Mae” n.d. Oil on canvas. Donated by Leonard Bocour to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. . . #womenshistorymonth #annchernow #oiloncanvas #filmnoir #womensupportingwomen #smcmfineart #SMCM #collections (at St Marys College Of Maryland)

[boydengallery]

Happy International Women’s Day! Today we kick off Women’s History Month and feature works from our collection created by female artists. . . Juliana Seraphim (b. 1934) is a Palestinian artist who is most well known for her visually complex prints. In 1952, her family was displaced and moved to Beirut, Lebanon. Here she began to take art classes at the Lebanese Fine Arts Academy and developed a distinct artistic style. Seraphim built up international recognition after being chosen to represent Lebanon at the Biennale in Alexandria (1962), Paris (1963), and Sao Paulo (1965). From there, she has continued to show her work throughout Europe and the Middle East. . . Her prints are impressive visual explorations of complex themes related to her experiences and those of other Palestinians. Seraphim’s work is informed by Surrealism, which is present in the dream-like, fantastic qualities of the landscapes she creates. She often combines plant and animal figural forms and creates her own realities from intricate and overlapping line patterns. Seraphim invites the viewer to get lost in her reality and thus her memories and experiences. . . Juliana Seraphim, “Saint John Perse I (195/200)” c. 1971. Etching print. . . #internationalwomensday #womenshistorymonth #womenempowerment #JulianaSeraphim #etching #etchingprint #SMCM #SMCMfineart #collections

[boydengallery]

For our final feature for Black History month, we honor David Driskell (b. 1931), an internationally recognized scholar of African American art. He studied at Howard University in 1955 and received an M.F.A. from the Catholic University of America in 1962. He is also the recipient of nine Honorary Doctoral degrees and was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Clinton in 2000. . . As an artist, Driskell works primarily in collage and mixed media, but he is also known for printmaking. Much of his work is stylized; he uses geometric forms and vibrant colors and patterns, often collapsing the space of the canvas into a flat plane. His mixed media works often combine paint and paper collage elements, however a few of his early works incorporate three dimensional found objects. . . Over the course of his career, Driskell has taught at several colleges and universities, including Howard University and Obafemi Awolowo University in lle-lfe, Nigeria. He served as the Chairperson of the Department of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) for five years and earned the distinction of Distinguished University Professor of Art in 1995. In 2001, UMD founded the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora to honor his legacy as an artist, art historian, collector, curator, and philanthropist. . . David Driskell, "Growing Plant" n.d. Oil on canvas. Donated by Leonard Bocour to the SMCM Fine Art Collection. Currently hanging in the office of St. Mary's College of Maryland President Tuajuanda Jordan. . . #blackhistorymonth #daviddriskell #oiloncanvas #SMCMfineart #SMCM #collections #nationalhumanitiesmedal #driskellcenter (at St Marys College Of Maryland)