November 20, 2009
The Coleman Center for the Arts is pleased to present “Symmetry / Asymmetry / Pop,” new collaborative work by Garland Farwell and his students. The work will be on display in the Coleman Center gallery from November 20, 2009 to February 15, 2010. An opening reception will take place on Friday, November 20th, from 6 to 8 PM. All events are free and open to the public!
Farwell’s work blends art history, pop culture, and traditional cultures from around the world in collaborative works with students and community groups. In 2009 Farwell has worked with his students in the Coleman Center’s after school and Saturday ART CLUB program, and classes Demopolis Jr. High and High School.
The creations are typically multi-purpose. They might be used first as teaching and learning objects and then featured in a performance before being displayed in a gallery. For several years Farwell has worked in close collaboration with Demopolis High School’s Theatre teacher, Jody White. For White’s 2009 production of the “The Diary of Anne Frank” Farwell led students in creating shadow boxes, inspired by the students’ personal reactions to Anne Frank’s story and based on Joseph Cornell’s boxed assemblages. The shadow boxes are individual visual responses to the weighty and epic themes in “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
In Demopolis Jr. High School Farwell worked with Megan Maybin’s 7th grade Civics Class. Students interpreted the United States presidents through “seated figure” sculptures, an African devotional sculpture that comes up repeatedly in Farwell’s work. The presidents span centuries, from founding fathers to Barack Obama. Each seated figure holds some form of plant material in it’s left hand, symbolically grounding the figures in the earth. While based in American history and traditional sculpture, the seated figures convey their own kind of pop aesthetic, with boldly hand colored black and white copies making up the familiar faces.
The Coleman Center’s after school and Saturday ART CLUB program has focussed this year on pop artists such Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Oldenburg. Here students have a chance to work on individual projects that fall under Farwell’s broad themes. Student work include edgy Lichtenstein-like female portraits, a plethora of boldly colored masks made from recycled materials, and abstract collages. Farwell’s partnership with his students is clear from the work. The work demonstrates the talent, dedication, and creativity of the students with a uniquely “Farwellian” vision.
This program is made possible by support from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Alabama Art License Tag Committee, the Black Belt Community Foundation, and the generosity of our individual supporters. For more information please contact the Coleman Center for the Arts, colemancenter@gmail.com, 205-392-2005.