Widener Gallery Spotlight: Grooves, Ink & Paper II

ANDREW BIEDERMANN ’18
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A slice of intellectual stimulation and a feast for the eyes, the latest exhibit to come to the Aus- tin Art Center’s Widener Gallery is called Grooves, Ink & PaperII:Prints for All and consists of 27 stunning prints ranging from the 16th to 20th century.
The exhibition showcases works culled from the Trinity College Art Collection in addition to several generously loaned by Professor Alden R. Gordon, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts.
Professor Gordon, along with students in his printmaking art history class, selected and arranged works of their choice as a final project. The result is the union of quality engravings, etchings, aquatints, lithographs and dry points from renowned names such as Dürer, Delacroix, Goya, Millet, and Whistler.
Grooves, Ink & Paper II: Prints for All offers much for visitors with all levels of art education to recognize and still more for them to discover. The exhibition is an excel- lent way for students to acquaint themselves with European prints and recognize the differences in production techniques and artistic movements. This easily digestible and highly diverse collection is ideal for anyone with a spare moment looking to see a unique facet of Trinity.
As valuable and exciting as the exhibit is, it isn’t the first and shouldn’t be the last. Professor Gordon and his seminar classes have collaboratively curated exhibitions on different occasions beginning with the 1983 show on Hart- ford’s outdoor sculpture.
Alec Buffamonte ’17 provided insight to get a better idea of what it was like to be a student co-curator for this semester’s exhibition. He elaborated on the high level of freedom given to stu- dents in putting together an exhibition that would cover several centuries and represent a pletho- ra of printmaking techniques. This particular class was on the history of printmaking beginning with primitive woodblock prints and ultimately concluding with screen prints of the 20th century.
The exhibition space, while compact, is made to feel absolutely professional and each visitor is given a helpful packet that outlines vital pieces of information for each of the works.Yet,it is hard not to wonder what Trinity’s students and staff would be capable of if given more opportunities to showcase art and in a better setting.
Few are aware of the impressive collection of art that Trinity owns, and it is largely stowed away in a vault. If Trin- ity were to create a permanent gallery space in a high-traffic location like the library, an unforeseen amount of interest in the arts would arise. A different sub-population of students would be exposed to and help to augment Trinity’s appreciation of art and donors would be more likely to give artworks to our college.
Additionally, our departments in the fine arts would benefit greatly and a new life could be injected into Trinity undergraduate academics. Such a development is necessary if we are to keep up with our rapidly advancing NESCAC brothers and sisters and build a cultured community that embodies the full-scale of a liberal arts education, with an emphasis on the arts.