Simphiwe Ndzube, Untitled (Staging), 2017, Acrylic on linen, 36” x 28”
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross is pleased to present works by emerging contemporary artists from the collection of alumni Brad Schuller ‘03 and Gabrielle Schuller ‘02 in the exhibition “See You Through It,” on view from Nov. 7 through Dec. 17, 2022 in the newly-opened Prior Performing Arts Center. A conversation with the Schullers and Meredith Fluke, director of the Cantor Art Gallery, will take place in Rehm Library as part of the opening events being held on Tues., Nov. 8 beginning at 5 p.m. An opening celebration will follow.
For the past decade, Brad and Gabrielle Schuller have been building a collection comprised of the work of young, West Coast-based artists. Their dynamic collection includes paintings, sculptures and mixed-media artworks, by artists whose work broadly considers the self in modern society. Through often unnerving images, the artists utilize disruption and humor to navigate some of the most profound and intimate subjects.
Artists included in the exhibition are Adam Bateman, Razvan Boar, Owen Fu, Brandon Landers, Victor Machado, Tala Madani, Mando Marie, Simphiwe Ndzube, Mike Shultis, Adam Stamp, William Stockman, Helen Teede and Mike Womack.
The Schullers, who currently live and work in Denver, Colo., met as students at Holy Cross in the late 1990s. Gabrielle was a classics major, then went on to earn a master’s degree in architecture from the Boston Architectural College; she is now a senior architect for the City of Denver. Brad, a physics major who was in the College Honors program, spent his junior year abroad at the University of Oxford, then earned a Ph.D. in radiation biophysics at MIT. He is currently working as a medical physicist for SCL Health in Boulder, Colo.
The Schullers’ shared passion for contemporary art has led them to collect works with an emphasis on young, emerging artists, many from the Los Angeles area, who are pushing boundaries aesthetically and narratively through highly personal and idiosyncratic explorations and expressions.
The exhibition features the work of Brandon Landers (b. 1985, Los Angeles), who currently resides in Bakersfield, California. His paintings are portraits and gatherings of family and friends, scenes imagined or pulled from his memory, in a distinct vocabulary of skewed perspective and slightly distorted human features. Text, if present, appears backward, cueing the alternative reality of his compositions. Landers’ 2017 painting “Booooy” depicting a relaxed group of young, male friends, is featured in the exhibition. Like Landers’ other paintings, the surface is irregular, shaped by oil paint, thickly applied with a palette knife. The surface of the painting is almost sculptural, seeming to make this group of young men lift off the canvas and come to life.
The exhibition also features work by Simphiwe Ndzube (b. 1990), an artist originally from South Africa, who now lives and works in both Los Angeles and Cape Town. Ndzube’s captivating paintings are influenced by the literary tradition of magical realism; he often creates mythical worlds that present alternative histories or realities, which expand beyond the confines of the canvas with found sculptural elements. His works on view include large-scale canvases: “Sidewalker” and “The Bird of Light Eating the Serpent of Darkness,” and a smaller, intimate painting: “Untitled (Staging).”
Iranian-American artist Tala Madani (b. 1981, Tehran), moved to the United States as a teenager. Her often satirical paintings skewer stereotypes and evoke clashes of culture with dark, mischievous imagery. Her work “Droppings” plays with trompe l’oeil painting traditions with its depiction of a perfect field of blue sky with a seagull suspended in mid-flight. The painting’s surface is spattered with globs of seagull guano.
“See You Through It” is the second exhibition to be mounted in the new Cantor Art Gallery space in the newly-opened Prior Performing Arts Center at Holy Cross. Fluke describes the exciting transition to the new building, “We are fortunate to be a part of an amazing facility that allows us to partner with collectors like the Schullers in bringing and presenting cutting-edge artwork to Holy Cross and the wider community. We look forward to taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded to us in our new space to enrich the cultural life of our community here, in Worcester, and in New England.”
Several talks will be held in conjunction with the exhibition and are listed below.
EVENTS:
Tuesday, November 8 | 5pm |Rehm Library
“Building a Collection of Contemporary Art”
A conversation with collectors Brad and Gabrielle Schuller
Gallery opening at 6pm
Thursday, November 10 | 4.30 pm (TBD)
Virtual studio visit and conversation with artist Simphiwe Ndzube
Registration information on the Gallery’s website
Wednesday, November 16 | 12.15 pm
“Figuration in 21st-Century Art”
Gallery talk with Melissa Trafton, Visiting Assistant Professor, Visual Arts
Thursday, November 17 | 4pm
“Exercises for the Quiet Eye: Reflecting on the work in ‘See You Through It’”
Gallery program with Annie Storr, Visiting Lecturer, Visual Arts
