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How Psychic And Physical Health Inform Artistic Expression At Thorne Exhibit

Finger Injury, Narrative #2, Tipping Point: Health Narratives from the South End
Finger Injury, Narrative #2, Tipping Point: Health Narratives from the South End

KEENE, NH 6/5/06 - “Art = Body + Mind: How Psychic and Physical Health Inform Artistic Expression” is a collection of several art forms, some interactive, demonstrating how health of all kinds informs art and creativity. This exhibition is at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College from June 9 through October 15 (closed August 5 - September 4). A second exhibition, “Selections from the Collection,” features works from the Dublin Art Colony and is also on display now through August 4.

Thorne Director Maureen Ahern curated “Art = Body + Mind” to converge with the campus’ growing commitment to integrative learning and practical application of education. “‘Art = Body + Mind’ brings together several media to show how an event, series of events or a medical condition can challenge and transform one’s life and beliefs. It is an opportunity for integrative learning as artists, scientists, and educators focus their attention on this subject,” she said.

One piece of this exhibit, an interactive installation, “Tipping Point: Health Narratives from the South End,” comes to the Thorne from the Boston Center for the Arts. Artist Jennifer Hall and Ellen Ginsburg, Ph. D., medical anthropologist and ethnographer, created the interactive show with artist Blyth Hazen, robotic systems lead, and artist Arnaldo Hernandez, software programmer. “They have combined the visual arts, science, and software programming to create an installation of large, kinetic, and interactive sculptures, each based on a health narrative gathered from artists living or working around the South End of Boston,” said Ahern. “Each sculpture responds to uniquely shared data created by the presence of gallery visitors. As this data constantly changes, the audiences will have individual as well as collective experiences.”

Artist Anne Harris’s “How to Draw Yourself Out of a Hole” is a series of self- portraits, lent by the Nielsen Gallery in Boston. The artist explores the definition of portraiture, demonstrating that no person is ever static. The drawings, each very different, illustrate the artist’s perception of self, and viewers can see the changes in each successive sketch.

In homage to the fall opening of Keene State’s new media arts center, three videos will also be shown. These videos exemplify how creativity is directly affected by one’s health and choices. Joe MacDonald and the National Film Board of Canada produced “First Stories: Patrick Ross,” which documents the creation of a painting as the young man discusses his spiritual and artistic journey from prison inmate to artist. Two student videos will also be shown. “Into Iraq” by KSC 2006 graduate Joshua Tuscher depicts his personal experience of war in Iraq and how it changed his life’s goals. Jim Varagona’s “Diseased Sensations” unflinchingly portrays the student filmmaker’s everyday life with Type 1 diabetes.

Keene State art faculty member Rosemarie Bernardi will exhibit prints about physical challenges and the connection between mind and body. KSC art students from a three-dimensional design class will also be exhibiting their own contributions to the fields of art and health: they created new organs for the human body designed to solve particular health problems and improve lives.

Work by 19th-century artists from the Dublin Art Colony, which flourished around Mount Monadnock into the 20th century, will be highlighted in a second exhibition titled “Selections from the Collection.” The Thorne-Sagendorph has in its permanent collection several original works by Dublin Colony artists, including Barry Faulkner; three more of his pieces have recently been restored and will be on display.

The Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery is located on the Keene State campus on Wyman Way off Main Street in Keene. Through August, the gallery’s hours are 12 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and closed on Monday and Tuesday. In September the gallery will resume its hours of 12 to 4 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday, and 12 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is accessible to people with disabilities. To request accommodations for a disability, please call the gallery at least two weeks before your visit. Call 603-358-2720 or visit www.keene.edu/tsag for information.

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