Freedman Gallery at Albright presents two exhibitions
Albright College’s Freedman Gallery will present the following two exhibitions running concurrently, Oct. 26 through Dec. 15. Both are free and open to the public:
Perle Fine/Marguerite Louppe: New York/Paris, on view in Main Gallery and Foyer”
The exhibit, Perle Fine/Marguerite Louppe: New York/Paris, contrasts the lives of two women painters, Fine (1905-1988) and Louppe (1905-1988). Fine, who worked in New York, and Louppe, who lived across the Atlantic in Paris, were active for the same period of time, existing in the parallel art worlds of abstract painters and modernist Paris.
The exhibition will place emphasis on the artists’ work; their style, use of material and aesthetic inspirations, accompanied by a consideration of the art scenes they emerged from and contributed to so vibrantly. Both artists will be represented by a wide variety of paintings and works on paper that will allow viewers to familiarize themselves with one of the stalwarts of the abstract expressionist movement — Fine and introduce a painter hitherto unknown in the United States, who experimented in the cubist and purist styles — Louppe.
Both Louppe and Fine had partners who were active artists as well, and the lively artistic social lives of each couple will be illustrated with letters, photographs and ephemera. Louppe and her husband, the painter Maurice Brianchon, were at the center of a French circle of creatives that included the composer Francis Poulenc, sculptor Ossip Zadkine, and the writer Paul Morand. Meanwhile, Fine and her husband, the photographer Maurice Berezov, were part of the abstract expressionist and downtown New York art world. Also highlighted will be both women’s struggles to have their work given the same credence as their fellow male artists, and the obstacles they faced and transcended due to sexism.
Exhibition-related events include Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., McMillan Student Center – Art-in-a-Minute: Text Home Without a Phone (fill-in-the blank postcard); Oct. 26 at 4 p.m., Klein Lecture Hall – Curatorial Lecture with Will Corwin; Oct. 26 at 5 p.m., Freedman Gallery – Opening Reception; Nov. 7 from 8 to 10 a.m., Freedman Gallery – French Breakfast.
Digital Manipulations and Machinations, the Art of Clinton Fein, on view in the Project Space
Clinton Fein’s digital manipulations of global icons and images have sparked controversy for years, both for their highly charged social and political commentary, but also among the artistic elite as to the fine line between subversive art and the obscene or offensive. Under the direction of Albright Center for the Arts director David Tanner, students in the arts administration project management class will research and install an exhibition of Fein’s work from the Annoy.com portfolio, a highly controversial collection of digi- tally manipulated images from the 1980s and early ’90s. The exhibition will explore the historical subtext of these images and examine their relevance to contemporary issues and conflicts.
Exhibition-related events include Oct. 26 at 5 p.m., Freedman Gallery – Opening Reception; Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 at Noon – Lunch and Learn Gallery Talks with Student Curators; Nov. 6 at 4 p.m., Klein Lecture Hall – Panel Discussion. The Freedman Gallery in the Center for the Arts is located on 13th and Bern streets in Reading. Exhibitions and programs in the visual arts at Albright College and The Freedman Gallery are generously supported by The Silverweed Foundation in honor of Doris C. Freedman, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and its partner, the Berks Arts Council, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.