The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

Reading Objects 2015: Responses to the Museum's Collection

Curated by Wayne Lempka

August 26 — December 13, 2015
Sara Bedrick Gallery

Frank Paulin, Automat, Times Square, 1956 [printed 2009], pigment print, gift of the artist, 2009.035.004

Reading Objects 2015: Responses to the Museum's Collection is the sixth iteration of this very popular project where faculty and professional staff at the university are invited to view objects that have been pre-selected by museum staff from The Dorsky's permanent collection. The requirements museum staff had when choosing objects for display were twofold: the artworks should have the potential for a wide range of narrative interpretations and should have rarely or never before been on public display.

Byron Browne, Harlequin Resting, 1946, oil on canvas, Gift of Barry Ulanov, 1959.002.001

Twenty objects spanning a host of art historical time periods and movement are included in this exhibition accompanied by poetry, prose, fiction, and non-fiction from the thirty responders.

Participants include: Gerald Benjamin, Joanne Bernardo, Pepper Boetcker, Frank Boyer, Jennifer Carlquist, Larry Carr, Kerry Dean Carso, Mary E. Fakler, Sheila Goloborotko, Morgan Gwenwald, Catherine Herne, Keely Heuer, Peter Kaufman, Aaron Knochel, Stephan J. Macaluso, Erica Marks, Susan Miiller, Joan E. Perisse, Susan Robinson, Laura M. Silvernail, Fran Smulcheski, Gerald Sorin, Mary Stevens, Suzanne Stokes, kt tobin, Wendy Vierow, Chris Brandon Whitaker, Reva Wolf, Caroline Wolfe, and Sarah Wyman.

William Gropper, Filibuster, n.d. [mid-20th century], lithograph, Gift of Ron Sternberg and Barbara Hardgrave, 1995.002

The beauty of an exhibition such as Reading Objects is that besides encouraging others to think in broad terms when responding to these works of art, it gave the museum staff a reason to display a host of artworks that otherwise might not be given the opportunity to make their public debut.