Former SIUE student curates print collection at EAC
Everyday conversation, and the different ways humans communicate, was the subject matter highlighting a collection of prints from the University Museum Feb. 18 at the Edwardsville Art Center.
Jessica Hunt MFA student studying sculpture, looks at a print during the SIUE History Museum’s annual exhibition at the Edwardsville Art show Feb. 18. The show was curated by SIUE grad Matty Kleinberg. (Photo by Joseph Lacdan)
Matty Kleinberg, visiting scholar in Printmaking for the SIUE Art Department, undertook the challenge of curating a collection of prints for the first time. Kleinberg selected from a collection ranging from the contemporary to early 20th Century. The exhibit, titled, “(Out of) Dialogue” showcases works from the SIUE University Museum’s vast collection.
Kleinberg, who graduated from SIUE with a Master’s in Fine Arts in printmaking in 2008, browsed through SIUE’s vast collection looking for conversation pieces, a topic he felt that most people can relate to. Subjects included a piece that featured two elderly people who share conversations humorously to a musician sitting on the hood of his car playing his guitar on a sunny day by Robert Marx. One 1965 piece by Filipino artist Rudolfo Perez featured a print of a couple sharing a kiss. The month-long exhibition runs through March 18.
“I think these [prints] are a good place for reflection,” Kleinberg said. “So that we can take five seconds to see other examples of things talking well and think about our own experience of how we talk to people well and how we don’t. … I like how these sort of give people a reason to stop and think about how they talk with people. I think it’s something that anybody can sort of pick and relate to their own experience.”
Kleinberg also enlisted the help of SIUE MFA students Nicole Benner, majoring in textiles, and Joanna Hoge, who is pursuing an MFA in drawing. The students helped Kleinberg pull prints and help matte and frame each of the pieces, some of which had never been displayed, including a piece by Amy Worthen. Worthen is a Des Moines-based printmaker who utilizes the Iowa style of printmaking. Her piece, titled “Sank Gottard,” is a three panel black and white set depicting images from a Cathedral. Klein was recruited by SIUE Museum director Erin Vigneau-Dimick to curate the collection.
Matty Kleinberg, visiting scholar in printmaking, speaks at the premier of the SIUE history museum’s annual exhibit at the Edwardsville Art Center Feb. 18. (Photo by Joseph Lacdan)
“We have works from the 19th century and we have works that were only made a couple of years ago,” Vigneau-Dimick said. “So it has a great breadth, both of era and also of technique. We have technique of all the different print media. And we’re really lucky from both great and recognized artists as well as underrecognized artists.”
Dimick said she called on the 36-year old Kleinberg, a St. Louis native who had previously worked as a printmaker at Firecracker Press to introduce a different vision for an art exhibit for the Museum’s annual showcase. Kleinberg currently is managing and overseeing print collections within the SIUE art department. Dimick was Kleinberg’s professor during his time at SIUE.
“He’s very, very thorough and meticulous in his work,” He’s really very open to new ideas and he really puts his whole heart into it.”
“It’s really been a wonderful experience to work with him,” Dimick said. “He moved from thousands of prints down to 60 and then really looked for something that drove a theme. So I really relied on him. I did not give him direction. I said I wanted it to be prints and utilize this enormous collection that we have. I really looked to him to create an idea or theme out of it. I’m really pleased with it.”
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