The Hastings College Jackson Dinsdale Art Center (JDAC) is presenting two installation artwork features, “Bloom Bloom” by Dana Lynn Harper in the main gallery and “I.ON” by Gabe Michael Kenney in the critique gallery, October 5 through November 2.
Harper and Kenney will present a lecture at 5:00 p.m., October 5 at the Wilson Center (714 E. 9th Street), followed by a reception in the JDAC. Regular gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., plus 5:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
For this installation, Harper is using non-traditional materials, such as chicken wire, flagging tape and colored lighting.
When researching new objects and materials to work with, Harper said she pays attention to the potential they have to become something new.
“These unconventional materials are the beginning of every project and are the basis for experimentation,” said Harper. “Each work is delicate and cloud-like, emerging through multiple marks, with minimal structure or solidity.”
In Kenney’s artwork, he deliberately focuses on ideas that are commonly perceived as being highly speculative, difficult to conceive and generally problematic by nature. In this installation, Kenney uses found objects, such as scientific instruments and homemade lighting fixtures.
“I concentrate on various procedures concerning many traditional and non-
traditional art practices,” said Kenney, “Conceptually, I address many different topics associated with the ideas concerning the evolution of consciousness.”
As part of the exhibitions, the Hastings College Department of Visual Arts is collaborating with the Languages and Literature Department on creative responses for the two exhibits. Students in composition courses are writing essays in response to contemporary, visual culture and both shows in the JDAC galleries. Among these essays, two will be selected for print and display; one essay will be exhibited alongside the artwork in each gallery.
Artist’s Bio’s
Gabe Michael Kenney is an artist, researcher and activist from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. As a young man, he pursued his BFA at Western State Colorado University. There, he specialized in traditional printmaking and formal aesthetic theory. Years later, he returned to school seeking an MFA at Pennsylvania State University where he focused more on conceptual and contemporary art theory and practice, while still obtaining a strong emphasis in printmaking. Since then, Kenney developed a framework that demonstrates arts true power to incite sociopolitical awareness and advocate global reform in a provocative yet entertaining, aesthetic manner.
Dana Lynn Harper earned a BFA from The Ohio State University in 2009. She was the recipient of The Bunton Waller Fellowship from Penn State University, where she received her MFA in 2013. Harper was awarded an ArtPrize Seed Grant, 2014 ArtFile Emerging Artist Grant, a Ringholz Foundation Award and an Ohio Arts Council Professional Award. Harper has been an artist in residence at Sculpture Space, Women’s Studio Workshop, Teton Art Lab, ArtSpace Raleigh, Kutztown University, Bunker Projects and Second Sight Studio. She has had solo exhibitions at Manifest Gallery and ROY G BIV among many others.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
