Berkshire Museum Presents M.C. Escher Seeing the Unseen
The Berkshire Museum presents M.C. Escher: Seeing the Unseen open through May 22, 2011.
This world premiere exhibition provides a full-on experience, including an up-close look at several rarely-displayed works, original woodblocks, watercolors, preparatory drawings and hard-to-find prints of many of Escher’s iconic images. Hands-on interactive stations provide the chance to find the fun in Escher’s technique through personal exploration. This eye-opening experience also takes a look at Escher’s impact on popular culture, from the cover of The New Yorker to black-light posters, and even some very creative tattoos.
M. C. Escher: Seeing the Unseen provides fresh and vital insight into one of the 20th century’s most popular artists, revealing the inspiration Escher took from the natural world—be it the forms of fish, birds and reptiles; the tightly interlocking figures known as tessellations; or the mathematical concepts that allowed him to unlock his distinctive style.
“Escher was a true innovator in the way he synthesized natural science and the artistic impulse, which makes him the perfect artist to showcase in a one-artist show of this scope at Berkshire Museum,” says Executive Director Stuart Chase. “Our role in the community is to bring people together for experiences that combine natural history, science, and fine art. These all merge with Escher. Plus, he’s someone that children, their parents, and their grandparents can all enjoy on their own levels.”
MC Escher: Seeing the Unseen includes many of the artist’s best-loved pieces, including Reptiles, Belvedere, Three Worlds, Self Portrait in Spherical Mirror, Sky and Water I, and Waterfall. It places these unforgettable images in the context of other prints—many, like the epic scrolls Metamorphosis II and Metamorphosis III, rarely on public view—in which he worked out their key ideas.
This world premiere exhibition traces Escher’s progress from obsessively detailed Italian cityscapes to his discovery of the tightly interlocking shapes found in Spanish mosaics, which became the inspiration for the repeating images of birds, reptiles and fish that populate some of his most famous images. Obsessed with exploring precise ways of dividing the two-dimensional plane, and whimsically including self-conscious “clues” to the viewer that betray his awareness of the essential illusions at play, Escher pursued his vision with work that displays both an exacting sense of perfectionism and a wry sense of humor.
Peering behind the scenes at this iconic artist who let his work speak for itself, this fresh perspective includes a priceless look at Escher’s creative process, including some rare preparatory drawings on view alongside the finished work, as well as hand-cut woodblocks used by the artist to make prints. The exhibition even includes some of Escher’s original pencils, pencil case, and drawing triangle. MC Escher: Seeing the Unseen also steps back to look at Escher’s impact on popular culture, with fun ephemera ranging from an issue of LIFE Magazine from 1961 to a small gallery of black light posters. Interactive stations provide the opportunity for visitors of all ages to explore the secrets at the heart of Escher’s work, from his iconic interlocking lizards to the possibilities of perspective.
M. C. Escher: Seeing the Unseen is proudly sponsored by TD Bank
www.berkshiremuseum.org
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