The Handwerker Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of “Tradition and Innovation: Plaster and Page,” curated by Cheryl Kramer and Nancy Ramage, on Thursday, September 1.
This exhibition will display, for the first time, the collection of plaster casts on long-term loan to Ithaca College from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Ranging in date from the third millennium BC to the 18th century, and from places as far-flung as Iraq, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Germany, and France, they provide an unusual opportunity to study exact copies of great works of art that were originally in marble, limestone, or bronze.
The exhibition also offers a comprehensive look at the development of Gregory Page’s series of giclée prints devoted to classical subject matter. An associate professor of printmaking and drawing at Cornell University, Page is a cofounder of the Ink Shop Printmaking Center/Olive Branch Press in downtown Ithaca. While teaching in Italy with Cornell University’s Rome program, Page was struck by both the scale of the monuments and the work involved in their construction and he began photographing the motifs he encountered. Page uses this body of work to document locations through their architectural motifs and record the enduring beauty of antiquity.
Two catalogues, one with contributions by Ithaca College students, and a series of gallery talks and lectures accompany the exhibition. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 1, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and the work will remain on display until September 25.
All Handwerker Gallery events are free and open to the public. For more information please see Handwerker Gallery or contact Cheryl Kramer, director of the gallery, (607) 274-3548.
