October at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art promises to be filled with railroads and sculptures as the museum unveils two new exhibits for the fall.
The first, “Ticket to Ride: Artists, Designers, And Western Railways,” will feature artwork from the late 1880s to the early 1930s, created by artists inspired by their travels across America during the golden age of railroads. The exhibit will also feature posters and graphics demonstrating the relationship between artists and railway companies at that time, focusing on the companies’ desire for art that would encourage further travel and artists’ need for recognition and respect.
“This (exhibit) really has something for everyone, whether you’re interested in fine art, commercial art or Western landscapes and design,” said Hadley Jerman, the Eugene B. Adkins associate curator. “I hope visitors are introduced to artists and designers that they may be less familiar with. I also hope people realize that commercial art and fine art are not mutually exclusive, and that artists in commercial art in the 1900s for the railways were also producing these grand landscapes.”
“Ticket to Ride” will run Oct. 5 to Dec. 30 in the Nancy Johnston Records Gallery, but art lovers eager to see the exhibit can catch a glimpse on Sept. 14 at the 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk, where several paintings and pieces of railway memorabilia will be displayed.
Fred Jones’ other upcoming exhibit, “Threshold With Me,” strays away from history and focuses more on the spiritual aspects of art. Featuring sculptures of seven thresholds based on the seven terraces of Dante’s purgatory, the exhibit aims to capture the effect of passing through one place to another.
Daren Kendall, an assistant professor of sculpture at OU and the artist behind “Threshold With Me” said that his piece is, at its core, all about movement and transition.
“I think of a museum as a site of objects that are from another time or are no longer used, they’re technically dead. So what does it mean to make art that is alive? What does it mean to change the museum into a space that has objects that are alive? Really, it is about transition — going from one place or time to another.”
The exhibit will open Oct. 16 with a gallery talk led by Kendall and featuring a live performance choreographer by Boyko Dossev, an adjunct instructor of dance and ballet at OU. “Threshold With Me” will remain open to the public until Dec. 30.
