Hixson-Lied Visiting Artists Series begins Jan. 19 with Painter Aaron Morse
calendar icon10 Jan 2017
Lincoln, Neb.--The University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Art, Art History & Design’s Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series brings notable artists, scholars and designers to campus each semester to enhance the education of students. Painter Aaron Morse will present the first lecture on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. His lecture is free and open to the public.
Underwritten by the Hixson-Lied Endowment with additional support from other sources, the series enriches the culture of the state by providing a way for Nebraskans to interact with luminaries in the fields of art, art history and design. Each visiting artist or scholar spends one to three days on campus to meet with classes, participate in critiques and give demonstrations. Every visiting artist or scholar gives at least one major lecture that is free and open to the public.
Morse was born in Tucson, Arizona, and lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Arizona at Tucson and his M.F.A. from the University of Cincinnati.
Combining painting and collage, Morse strives to make sense of the past and the present, connecting the two so as to examine the future. Morse’s zigzagging timelines explore both historical and mythical themes, from dreamlike mountain treks to space exploration. His scenes are envisioned from above or in cross-sections. The faded colors of the tangled imagery on top of crinkled terrains evoke the remnants of time passed and require the viewer to slow down in order to grasp a bigger picture.
His recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions at ACME. in Los Angeles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016); Guild and Greyshkul in New York; and Country Club/Rafacz Gallery in Chicago. His work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
His work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas; and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Each lecture in the series is free and open to the public and will take place in Richards Hall Rm. 15. The remaining lectures in the series this spring include:
• Susanne Meurer, Assistant Professor of Early Modern European Art at the University of Western Australia in Perth, on Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. She is currently a Fellow in Printing and Graphic Arts at Harvard’s Houghton Library.
• Photographer Allison Grant, on Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. Grant is a Chicago-based artist, educator and curator and teaches in the Photography and Art & Art History departments at Columbia College in Chicago.
• Robert Bubp, Associate Professor of Art and Design at Wichita State University, on March 2 at 5:30 p.m. His current projects include research into traditions and local politics of street vending in different cultures.
• Designer and Entrepreneur Rob Forbes on March 9 at 5:30 p.m. Forbes has been a ceramic artist, professor, author, publisher, photographer, and business entrepreneur. He has held executive positions at numerous retail companies, but is best known as the Founder of Design Within Reach (1998) and PUBLIC Bikes (2010).
• Forensic Archaeologist Caroline Sturdy Colls on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. Colls is an Associate Professor of Forensic Archaeology and Genocide Investigation at Staffordshire University. She is also the Research Lead of the Centre of Archaeology at the same institution. She led the first forensic archaeological investigation at Treblinka extermination and labor camps in Poland.
• Graphic Designer Ellen Lupton on April 6 at 5:30 p.m. Lupton is a writer, curator, educator and designer. She is the senior curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City.
• Sculptor David Lobdell on April 13 at 5:30 p.m. Lobdell is Professor of Fine Art and Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts at New Mexico Highlands University. His interests are in thermal processes that include ceramics, metal working and performance works that incorporate fire.
• Photographer Lawrence McFarland on April 20 at 5:30 p.m. McFarland, who received his M.F.A. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1976, is professor emeritus from the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught from 1985 until 2013. He was awarded the first William and Bettye Nowlin Endowed Professorship in Photography in 2003.
For more information on the series, contact the School of Art, Art History & Design at (402) 472-5522.