NELSON GALLERY AT UC DAVIS HOSTS THREE EXHIBITIONS LOOKING BACK AT FORMS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PAST
MARCH 29TH THROUGH MAY 20TH, 2007

•VICTORIAN ERA SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY,
•CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS MAKING TAPESTRIES
•SELECTED WORKS BY ALUMNI OF NOTE

Do you believe in ghosts or communicating with the dead? Many people in the last years of the 19th century did, and a large industry grew of people claiming to be able to invoke the spirits of the deceased, often using photography to reinforce their claims. The famous magician Houdini spent his life revealing these hoaxes. Ricky Jay, the great sleight-of-hand artist, writer, actor and collector, shares his collection of ephemera from this near-forgotten time, including Houdini’s own slide show, and spirit photographs, with visitors to the Nelson. Jay was the keynote speaker last year at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art when it hosted an exhibition of related materials. Renny Pritikin, director of the Nelson Gallery, notes that “Ricky Jay is an American treasure and these pieces of our cultural past that he has gathered together are priceless clues to how people lived and thought over 100 years ago.”

When did people start making art works? Tapestries are almost as old as human civilization; the Greeks were making them in 300 BC. In Europe in the 14th century the technique was reinvigorated for use in the homes of the wealthy. This ancient form has been revived through computerization by Don Farnsworth of Magnolia Editions in Oakland California over the past decade. Farnsworth has invented software that converts contemporary artist’s drawings, paintings and photographs into databases that can be utilized by looms in Belgium to make large and multi-colored tapestries of great complexity and beauty. Artists ranging from William Wiley and Chuck Close to Squeak Carnwath and Diane Andrews Hall are included in this gorgeous exhibition. Renny Pritikin, Nelson Gallery director, adds, “Viewers of these amazing tapestries often cannot believe that it is possible to recreate artists work in fabric with such accuracy and beauty.”

Is there life after graduate school? UC Davis has been offering Masters of Fine Arts degree for forty years and we will be showing a small exhibition of work from the collection by some alums who have gone on to distinguished careers as artists. Included are such artists as Deborah Butterfield, Nancy Rubins, Christopher French and Charles Burns. “As we approach the UC Davis 100th Anniversary it is a good time to look back on the contribution of the art department to American art history,” says Nelson director Renny Pritikin.

Images are available by request. Contact Torreya Cummings at 530 752 8500 or tjcummings@ucdavis.edu