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Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University announces

Beverly Semmes: Starcraft exhibition and lectures

"Red Dress" by Beverly Semmes, 1992

The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Beverly Semmes: Starcraft, on October 4, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

Beverly Semmes is an internationally recognized artist creating unique installations, and challenging the conventional definitions of craft and “women’s work” by creating completely non-functional pieces out of traditional materials such as clay and fabric.  She first gained broad recognition with her large-scale installations of fabric sculptures and monumental dresses, and her recent installations have expanded to include brightly colored ceramic pots and hand-built coiled vases cast in molten glass. Her work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions at museums including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Sculpture Center in New York, among others.

This exhibition will include work from Semmes’ major series since the mid 1990s with a focus on Semmes’ impressive sculptural dresses that range in size from 7 feet to 30 feet long. Also on view will be the artist’s photographic, collage and video work, and pottery and glass pieces.  This exhibition is organized by the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The exhibition will be open October 4 – December 8, 2012, and Beverly Semmes speak about her work in a conversation with museum director Amy Moorefield at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 4.  A reception will follow.  Additionally, on November 29 at 6:00 pm, Margo Crutchfield, Curator at Large for the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, will speak about working with Semmes.

Events at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum:

Exhibition Opening and Conversation with Beverly Semmes and museum director Amy G. Moorefield
Thursday, Oct 4, 7 pm
Francis J. Niederer Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

Exhibiting artist Beverly Semmes and museum director Amy G. Moorefield discuss Semmes’ work and artistic processes involved in the exhibition Starcraft.  A reception will follow.

Lecture by Margo Crutchfield
Curator at Large, Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech
Thursday, November 29, 6 pm
Frances J. Niederer Auditorium
Visual Arts Center

Margo Crutchfield in the  Curator at Large for the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech (opening in Fall, 2013). In 1996, as the associate curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, she curated Semmes’ first solo exhibition in Virginia. In this lecture, Crutchfield will revisit that watershed exhibition and will discuss the artist’s work in the context of art and life in our times.  A reception will follow.

Beverly Semmes: Starcraft is funded in part by Roanoke County, the City of Roanoke through the Roanoke Arts Commission, gift of Anonymous, and our community partners

For more information visit www.hollins.edu/museum or call 540.362-6532.