Currently showing at the Albright Knox Art Gallery is an exhibit entitled "Cover to Cover." The exhibit contains works from many different artists and genres and is arranged from the gallery's own works.
Organized by students as part of the Fall 2004 Museum Studies class at Canisius College, it presents the observer with a variety of art types, allowing one to draw associations between the works. Works from Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, and Jenny Holzer are included in this display.
"Cover to Cover" is a unique exhibit, containing several types of art, including paintings, books, writings, prints, photos and sculptures. Some of the images are in color, some in black-and-white, and each piece has a different message. They seem to have a collective message about how art is discovered and realized by the artist.
Andy Warhol's "Jacqueline Kennedy III" (1965) is a silkscreen of the iconic first lady's face. Four different expressions are grouped together, giving a rather solemn impression of her personality. The piece captures the repercussions of her husband's death two years earlier.
Kara Walker's pieces invoke feelings of strength and fear. Shades of black, white and grey are aimed at gaining a perspective on freedom, according to the artist's explanation. "Cotton" is an etching in which a black figure seems to float over a cloud. "Freedom; A Fable" tells a story of slavery, using black silhouettes on white paper. These silhouettes seem to jump off the page.
Perhaps some of the most thought-provoking pieces in the exhibit are those that some might not consider art. Jenny Holzer's motivation for her creations comes from making her art unexpected. She uses subtle messages to comment on environmental issues.
The display consists of different-colored blocks, each a leaf from the artist's book, "Black Book Posters," 1988. Each block has something different to say, but one stood out. It read, "Manipulation is not limited to people."
Claes Oldenburg has four lithographs in the exhibit. His wordplay on certain terms creatively makes an astute observation of society. One of the lithographs includes a sketch of "body buildings." These are sketches of office buildings in the shape of knee-to-waist renditions of people's bodies dressed for work.
Photography is also given a voice in "Cover to Cover," through works by Hamish Fulton and Ann Rosen, among others. Fulton's photographs chronicle his journeys on foot. He has walked over 12,000 miles in total, according to the artist's bio. Two of his books are shown in the exhibit, 1983's "Horizon to Horizon" and 1992's "Hamish Fulton."
The two books differ in method. "Horizon to Horizon" describes scenes using lines and words in the order in which they would appear in a photograph, rather than the image itself. For example, the word "birds" would be on the top of the page and the word "stones" would be on the bottom of the page. His technique allows the readers to create a mental image of the scene.
Ann Rosen's photograph, "Cast of Thousands I" was combined with paint to create an image of New York City. The photo includes an array of people on a ghostly city street.
"Umbilical," a sculpture by Janine Antoni concludes the tour. The work is a symbol of her journey to maturity. The sculpture is a spoon with a symbol of childhood attached to one end and one of adulthood at the other.
"Cover to Cover" serves to clarify the messages within some of the Albright Knox's better-known pieces.
