page six
Czysz and Meikrcmtz explore art
By Bill Meikrantz
and Mike Czysz
(The setting: a car rolling
home toward Greensboro from
Raleigh, last sunny Saturday
afternoon. The columnists are
engaged in a discussion of the
North Carolina Museum of the
Arts which they have just
visited. We join them as Mike
says:)
MC; You know, Bill, I'll have
to take back all my many
negative statements about
viewing art which I've made in
the past. I must admit that I was
really pleased that we took the
time to visit the NCMA in
Raleigh today. It is hard to
believe, but as a deprived child,
I never had the experience of
viewing works of art on display
in a large museum before.
Quickly I realized that art,
when presented directly to the
viewer, has a power that repro
ductions never have. Looking
at the detailed brush work in the
medium itself helped me appre
ciate more fully what the artist
must do to create a master
piece.
BM: I know what you mean.
There is something about
standing in front of a painting
that is like standing outside of
time. One might well be stand
ing in the studio of some
Cenoese master or kneeling
before the altar of a Medieval
church.
You know, I was really sur
prised by the variety and extent
of the collection. Seeing so
many works dating from the
Middle Ages and Renaissance
was especially appealing to me.
MC: I'm glad you mentioned
that. When viewing art from the
Gothic, Renaissance, or Ba
roque periods in an art history
course, I was always affected by
the strong spiritual quality of
the religious paintings. Seeing
some of these works in person
honestly brought me to the
period itself and increased my
feeling for what the artist
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wanted to portray.
In particular, I cannot tell you
how I felt after seeing The
Adoration of the Child by Botti
celli in the Kress Collection.
Part of my exhiliration was due
to the fact that I was then
viewing the work of a "mas
ter," an artist whose works are
studied and admired. His feel
ings and beliefs can be under
stood through his art.
BM: The Kress Collection
also had some really nice Fle
mish and Dutch pieces, he
warmth and gentleness of these
paintings contrasted sharply
with the solemnity and austerity
of the older works. This contrast
really helped bring them alive.
MC: Another striking con
trast was between the Japanese
and Impressionist prints that
were on display. Both groups
showed the same affinity for a
fluid use of line and a subtle use
of soft coloring.
BM: I especially liked some
sketches by Mary Cassat.
MC: Yes, I remember them.
She had a print of a woman
brushing her hair next to a
Japanese print of the same
subject. They looked surprising
ly similar considering their se
paration in culture and time.
BM: Thinking about contrasts
reminds me of the Andy Warhol
works on display in that mostly
miscellaneous section of the
museum.
MC: Yes. At first, I was
shocked by what I saw. His
silkscreen presentations of to
pics such as Black Drag Queen,
Jackie Kennedy 11, and an
untitled portrait of a cow struck
me as revolting mainly because
of their contrasts with the other
paintings from previous per
iods.
After viewing them for a few
minutes though, I became more
aware of his personal inten
tions, what I thought was an
attempt at a complete individual
expression. In that section, I
was also impressed with the
blown glass neon sculptures
and the kinetic light piece
ri.ilfnrrlian
entitled Cosmos, which I
thought was a fascinating new
art form.
Something else that I did not
expect to find in an art museum
was the section that centered on
touch rather than sight. In this,
the Mary Duke Biddle Collec
tion for the Blind, I had my first
experience with actually touch
ing a work of art.
We who have eyes take our
other senses, specifically touch,
for granted, not realizing the
intensity of feeling they convey
to us.
BM: And there is so much
else to be experienced the
collection of American art, the
ritual and ceremonial collection,
Shakespeare and science
fiction scheduled at UNCG
Two performances by the
Acting Company of New York
and a three-day science fiction
festival, complete with movies
and two lectures by writer Theo
dore Sturgeon, are scheduled
for the week of April 2-8 at the
University of North Carolina at
Greensboro.
On Friday, April 6, the Acting
Company will present Shake
speare's "Romeo and Juliet."
The following night, they will
perform Jean Anouilh's mod
ern-dress version of Sophocles'
classic tragedy, "Antigone."
Both plays will begin at 8:15
p.m. in Aycock Auditorium.
"Stellarcon IV," the only
science fiction festival currently
held in North Carolina, will
open at 2 p.m. Friday, April 6,
the run through 6 p.m. Sunday,
April 8. The festival will feature
morning and afternoon work
shop sessions on Saturday with
Sturgeon and with David Ger
rold, a former writer for the
"Star Trek" television series.
Popular science fiction and fan
tasy movies will be shown all
weekend
etc., etc. It was a great way to spend a
MC: What more can we say? Saturday.
The Acting Company perfor
mances will conclude the cur
rent season of UNC-G's Uni
versity Concert and Lecture
Series. Tickets are available at
the Aycock Auditorium box
office, 379-5546, between 1:30
p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.
"Stellarcon IV" is sponsored
by UNC-G's Science Fiction and
Fantasy Federation, a student
organization. Registration for
the festival can be handled by
calling the organization's office
at 379-7395 between 10 a.m.
and 3 p.m. Monday through
Thursday or at 2 p.m. the day of
the festival at the Elliott Center
box office.
Theodore Sturgeon, the cele
brated science fiction writer,
will conduct two workshops at
10:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on
Saturday and will speak at the
banquet that night. Other spea
kers include David Gerrold, in
workshops at 10:30 a.m. and 2
p.m. Saturday, and M.A. Fos
ter, a Greensboro science fiction
writer
April 4, 1979
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TUES. APRIL 17, -
"THE THING THAT ATE
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TUES. APRIL 10, at 11
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SUNDAY APRIL 15,
ALSO AT 11:00 P.M.
A SPOTLIGHT WITH j
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* ***********
NOTEJ "STARS & STUFF"
WILL BE AIRED
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