Members of the Michener Art Museum and friends attended the opening reception for Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity and Transformations II: Works in Steel by Karl Stirner.
About Infinite Mirror:
American artists of African, Arab, European, Asian, Latino and Native American descent explore their heritage in Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity, on view at the Michener Art Museum through July 7, 2013.
Renowned artists Paul Keene, Tomie Arai, Luis Jimenez, Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold are among the culturally-diverse artists who use portraiture and figuration to examine issues of race, gender, religion, history, politics and family. The exhibit, comprised of more than 50 multi-media works, is personal and reflective.
For more about Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity, visit http://www.michenermuseum.org/exhibits/infinite.php
About Transformations II:
Picasso may have been the first sculptor to work in iron, and David Smith’s works may have signaled the beginning of steel sculpture, but Karl Stirner was among the first to strip metal of its suggestiveness and allow it to become purely abstract, to reveal its pure form.
Transformations II: Works in Steel by Karl Stirner is on view in the Pfundt Gallery at the Michener Art Museum through June 16, 2013.
“Karl Stirner is a significant sculptor living right here in our community,” says Michener Director & CEO Lisa Tremper Hanover, who curated this exhibit. “His work is abstract and untitled, and viewers take away something personal from his sensuous forms.”
Stirner, 89, brings new life to metal that has been discarded, whether from Bethlehem Steel, shipwrecks, or off the street. He fuses natural materials with manmade, and juxtaposes smooth surfaces with rough and pitted ones to form organic shapes. Stirner creates a drama of contradiction, playing thick against thin, flexible against inflexible.
For more information about Transformations II: Works in Steel by Karl Stirner, visit http://www.michenermuseum.org/exhibits/stirner.php
The The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, Pa. Museum hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 4:30 pm; Saturday 10 am to 5 pm; Sunday noon to 5 pm. Admission: Members and children under 6, free; adults $15; seniors $13; college student with valid ID $11; ages 6-18 $7.50; under 6 free. For more information, visit www.michenerartmuseum.org or call 215-340-9800.
