By Jonathan Morales

2024年2月8日

The spring semester brings the opening of two new exhibits at the University 图书馆 Gallery, showcasing world-class art in the heart of campus and highlighting 萨克拉门托 State’s impact on the art world locally and beyond.

“She Laughs Back: Feminist Wit in 1970s Bay Area Art,” curated by retiring Art Professor Elaine O’Brien, includes the work of 19 woman artists, including 囊状态 faculty and alumni, who used humor as a feminist strategy.

“Teach Art,” curated by 囊状态 Art Galleries and Collections Curator Kelly Lindner, features the work of longtime 囊状态 professor and local art luminary Stephen Kaltenbach, highlighting how his teaching intersected with his artistry.

两个展览都于2月6日开幕。 “She Laughs Back” will close April 14, and “Teach Art” will close May 18. 两个展览的开幕招待会将于下午5点至8点举行。 2月8日。 Elsewhere on campus, an exhibit of work from 28 囊状态 alumni titled “Metamorphosis” runs in the Robert Else Gallery through Feb. 23.

O’Brien, who has taught at 囊状态 since the late 1990s, had been trying to put on “She Laughs Back” for several years before a grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art finally allowed her to do so in her final semester as a professor.

A contemporary of the featured artists and an art historian, O’Brien said she understands why the artists deployed humor in their work, calling it an effective way to communicate serious ideas and challenge prejudices without resorting to anger.

“Wit – all kinds of humor – is another way to encourage critical thinking, questioning stereotypes and biases,” she said. “It's another way to encourage critical thinking, questioning.”

“She Laughs Back” features 95 paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media work from 19 regional artists. Through satire, puns, burlesque, and wit, the artworks were created in the 1970s to contest social hierarchies and advance women’s rights.

Shedding light on such movements, O’Brien said, is the purpose of her job as an art historian.

“Art historians, when we do our research and our writing, we are looking to do exactly that, bring into the historical record that which was left out,” she said.

If “She Laughs Back” is about an artistic movement that has flown under the radar, “Teach Art” is about a local legend who finally seems to be getting his due, Lindner said.

Kaltenbach, now in his 80s and living in Davis, came to 囊状态 in 1971, where his impact over more than 30 years was “huge,” Linder said. 她说，他把教学视为自己艺术实践的一部分，而不是与之分离，他是Sac州立大学最早将行为艺术纳入系内的教授之一。

“在这两个展览中，我考虑的部分是，对学生和艺术专业的学生来说，是艺术实践的寿命，因为大多数女性都还活着，卡尔滕巴赫也是如此。 他们从未停止过艺术创作。” -- Kelly Lindner, 囊状态 Art Galleries and Collections curator  

Regionally, his most famous work is 父亲的画像, which hangs in the Crocker Art Museum. On campus, he’s known for the giant Venus head sculptures that live in the Art Sculpture Lab. 卡尔滕巴赫正在重新绘制其中一个头像，作为展览的一部分。

“Teach Art” will also include a re-creation of the installation 窗口, first shown at the Robert Else Gallery in 1981. Lindner, however, offered few details of the installation, saying it must be experienced to be understood, a hint at the mysteriousness she said defined much of Kaltenbach’s work.

"There was a playfulness to his work as well as really trying to shed light on what does it mean to be an artist, and I think he imparted that to his students quite a bit,” Lindner said.

这两个展览的配对在很大程度上是间接的，但它们确实有共同的线索。 Much of the work on display was created around the same time, Lindner said, and Kaltenbach’s art, like the women featured in “She Laughs Back,” also frequently contained an underlying humor.

她说，这些展览还提供了一个机会，让教师和校友在他们教书或学习的校园里展示他们的作品，并向学生们证明，成为一名艺术家是可以持续一生的。

"(In) both of the exhibitions, what I'm thinking about, in part, for students and art students is the longevity of having an artistic practice, because most of the women are still alive, and the same for Kaltenbach,” she said. “他们从未停止过艺术创作。”

Multiple “She Laughs Back” artists, including former 囊状态 Professor Joan Moment, will participate in an artists’ conversation from 3-4:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Hinde Auditorium, one of 若干公众活动 connected to the exhibition.

On March 14, Kaltenbach will be on campus to discuss 父亲的画像 and other work with Crocker Art Museum Associate Curator Francesca Wilmott.

For more information about the exhibits, visit the 大学艺廊网页.