exhibition
MUSIC AS IMAGE AND METAPHOR at the Bartlett Center

About the exhibition

KENTLER FLATFILES TRAVELING EXHIBITION

MUSIC AS IMAGE AND METAPHOR
SELECTIONS FROM THE KENTLER FLATFILES at the Bartlett Center

Co-Curators: David Houston and Florence Neal
Musical track by Michael Kowalski and Allen Otte

Exhibition Dates: January 22 - March 20, 2021

VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION: February 25, 5:30pm
LINK TO RECORDED DISCUSSION

CLICK for exhibition photos and essays.
CLICK for View Files: Music as Image and Metaphor (on view at Kentler)
 

Artists:

Herbert Brün, Beth Caspar, Phillip Chen, Abby Goldstein, Takuji Hamanaka, Keiko Hara, robin holder, Richard Howe, Hannah Israel, Mary Judge, Kazuhiro Nishijima, Ralph Kiggell, Rosalinda Kolb, Jiří Kornatovský, Robert Lansden, Simon Lewandowski, Jim Napierala, Florence Neal, Margaret Neill, Morgan O’Hara, Gahae Park, Jaanika Peerna, Scott Pfaffman, Orlando Richards, Susan Schwalb, Viviane Rombaldi Seppey, Molly Snyder-Fink, Hugh Williams


Music as Image and Metaphor brings together forty-one works by twenty-eight artists from the Kentler Flatfiles (Brooklyn, NY) focused on the theme of music.  The theme of music-as-image includes works that were directly inspired by or are illustrative of sound art, while the image-as-metaphor theme encompasses a diverse group of works that, directly or indirectly, reflect the structure and artistic goals of musical composition and improvisation.  As an incentive to the viewer to pursue these rich connections more deeply, the exhibition also includes a suite of one-minute musical responses to each graphic work, specially created for the installation at the Bartlett Center.  Some of the connections are direct and clear, others poetic or even fanciful.  Whatever the connection, this exhibition celebrates the ongoing dance between the visual and the aural that is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

MUSICAL RESPONSES:
The show includes a suite of miniature musical correspondences, one for each visual work, created by composer-pianist Michael Kowalski and percussionist-composer Allen Otte.   Kowalski and Otte explore the various ways that a musical composition can relate to a visual composition: as a gestural dialogue, as a thematic extension or development, as a compositional analogy, as a soundtrack, or as a spontaneous reaction. The results are often surprising, sometimes baffling, but always illuminating.  Unless specifically noted, compositions and performances are by Michael Kowalski or Allen Otte. 
MUSICAL RESPONSES: Listen online! press the AUDIO button under each ARTWORK to open the corresponding music page. 

THE KENTLER FLATFILES are an essential element of Kentler International Drawing Space since its founding in 1990. A compendium of artworks by more than 200 local, national and international artists, this living archive represents the breadth, quality and variety found in contemporary drawings and works on paper today.  The Flatfiles are available for viewing by the public and have become an important resource for artists, collectors, curators and anyone interested in the field of drawing and prints. Selections from the Kentler Flatfiles are regularly presented in guest-curated exhibitions at Kentler and in traveling shows.

A catalog accompanies the exhibition.
Special thanks for support of this exhibition: Kay Broda, Judye Harris, Janice Watson


Bo Bartlett Center
Corn Center for the Visual Arts, 921 Front Ave., Columbus, Georgia
OPEN HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. / Sunday, 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Observing social distancing.