Art Scape for ISU

Artist / Maker Beej Nierengarten-Smith (American, b. 1942)

Date2008

MediumPhotolithography, chine collé, metallic leaf in silver, silver glitter, encaustic, blue paper with beeswax, hand finished with Prismacolor

Dimensions24 x 16 1/2 in. (61 x 41.9 cm)

ClassificationsPrints and Printing Plates

Credit LineCommissioned by University Museums. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2010.14

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextIn conjunction with the exhibition BodyScapes & CounterPoints: Prints by Beej Nierengarten- Smith, the artist has created two prints for the University Museums’ permanent collection (cats. 1, 2; figs. 1, 5). These prints feature sculptures from the Art on Campus Collection and Program, Stephen De Staebler’s Left- Sided Angel and Manuel Neri’s Escalieta I. Iconic and enigmatic, these figures are both in a state of transformation, vulnerable yet full of possibilities. Beej’s prints embrace this expression of the potential in all humanity. Iowa State University’s purview encompasses cultures from both East and West, and Beej’s prints reflect this thematically. Classical sculptures of Mercury and Aphrodite are counterpoints to De Staebler and Neri’s contemporary figures, all of them embedded in the Western tradition. Hovering amid these three-dimensional forms are female images from Japanese prints, representing the East. “I wanted to include both male and female figures,” said Beej, “but since my work is focused on female images, that’s what I used in both prints to contrast with the sculptural forms.” The newly renovated Morrill Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the Iowa State University campus and the site of Beej’s exhibition in the Christian Petersen Art Museum, is a looming presence in both prints. The University Museums championed the renovation of this historical building in the heart of the campus, and Beej’s prints pay tribute to Morrill Hall’s role in bringing the art and culture of East and West together.

Locations