The Fullerton College Art Department held their opening reception for Culturally Displaced, an all new art exhibit, that will run from Oct. 26 to Dec. 12 in the FC art gallery. The new exhibit is a collection of art from The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.
Frederick R. Weisman was a pioneering collector who lived and worked in Fullerton in the 1950’s. He held an uncompromising belief in the cultural value of art and understood the importance of both the individual artist and creative process.
The art foundation has been and currently seeks to preserve, collect, and make publicly accessible his collection of modern and contemporary art
The works of art collected explore both the expression and the perception of a variety of cultures. Artists included span diverse origins and address several topics including slavery, surveillance, and identity.
“It does a great job of trying to bring the whole world together,” said Anthony Valdez, an art major at Fullerton College.
Funding was provided by the foundation to help support the formation of the new gallery. The funding covered transportation costs for all the art and food during the reception.
The works of art range from scrap metals to a large oil painting that stretches from one wall to the next to give a 3-D illusion.
One art piece that caught some attention during the evening was “My Yoke is E-Z, My Burden Lite” by Jeffrey Cook.
“For something so small and raggedy, it has a whole lot of meaning,” Valdez said when describing “My Yoke is E-Z, My Burden Lite”.
Jeffrey Cook is an artist and dancer from New Orleans. He is known for fashioning found materials, such as metal, pieces of wood and electrical tape, into assemblages with Afro-centric themes.
Another center art piece was titled “Song for Mother Earth” by Willie Birch. This piece of art depicts a man in native African dress playing a large, wooden horn punctured by rusty nails and fragments of mirrors. Text and symbolism can be seen on different parts of the life sized man that connotes either a call to protect the environment or humans inflict on nature.
Birch, similar to Jeffrey Cook, was a New Orleans native and crafted “Song for Mother Earth” with paper mache and found objects.
The gallery art class students, from classes such as Art 122, were in charge of setting up the displays for the exhibit.
“It allows me to handle popular works of art which is in the field of what I want to do in the future,” said Nicole Rios, a gallery staff member. “It’s great just being in this sort of environment.”
Preparing works of art for exhibition is not as easy as some may believe. There is a long and detail oriented process that goes on. The most difficult task during the set up of the exhibit was for “Wide Boy”.
“Wide Boy”, by German artist Craig Fisher, came with vague instructions and required the use of team work to prepare for exhibition. About 14 blocks of wood, nails and power tool were used which then resulted in the final product after almost three hours of work.
“Wide Boy” models a life-sized car made out of tarp and was created to resemble a car crash. On the left side, the car looks a bit awkward but normal enough to be okay. When one walks to the right side, one can immediately see the devastation.
The gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will also be evening hours on Nov. 8,14 and 20 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Tours will now also be given out to any individuals or groups interested in learning more about the art exhibit.
“Students will be leading tours that will be focusing on just a few art works and discussing them more in depth,” said Carol Henke, Gallery Director for Fullerton College. “We will also extended to any time we can get students here to get a tour. It does not have to be within the gallery hours.”
For information on future art exhibits, visit the Fullerton College Art Department website.
To reserve a tour for Culturally Displaced, email Carol Henke at: [email protected]