A List
09/25/06

'OFF KILTER' INSTALLATION AT SLU'S BRUSH GALLERY

CANTON - "Off Kilter: An Installation" by artist Barb Madsen will be in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University from Thursday, October 5, through Wednesday, November 1. A slide lecture and discussion with Madsen will be held on Monday, October 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 123 of the Griffiths Arts Center; it is open to the public, free of charge.

Madsen's art addresses numerous social issues, chief among them the lack of understanding and empathy for people of differing races and beliefs. Through her art, she questions the greed of large companies at the expense of people and the environment, and expresses her desire to combat the hatred and intolerance taught within many cultures. She believes that the "angry activist diatribe" is no longer an effective strategy. Her work seeks to blur the boundaries among fine art, advertising and pop culture by using provocative imagery, wit and a sense of humor. Over the years, Madsen has collected and photographed a cast of characters that are "blithely campy, sinister, creepy and nostalgic, but nonetheless allude to the fact that everything is not quite right in the world."

After September 11, 2001, Madsen created two public art projects with the billboards Eye 4 Eye = Blind in Jersey City and Revenge Never Ends in Newark, New Jersey. In 2005, she produced three banners in the Washington, D.C. area: Oh! at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; Fear and Paranoia Win at Studio 1515 on 14th Street; and Who Decides Our Future at Pyramid Atlantic in Silver Springs, Maryland.

For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, contact the gallery at 315-229-5174.

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More information: Arts at St. Lawrence