University of Maine Museum of Art Exhibition, Jan. 21-April 2, 2005

Contact: For additional information please call 561.3350

ORONO–The University of Maine Museum of Art is pleased to present two new exhibitions at Norumbega Hall in downtown Bangor: A Maritime Album, an expansive, historical exhibit organized by the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia; and a sculpture installation entitled freezetag by Anya Lewis, originally from Bangor.

A Maritime Album

100 Photographs and Their Stories

Spanning the history of photography and man’s evolving relationship with the sea, A Maritime Album provides a rare, revealing view of American maritime culture, industry and society, capturing notable moments in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The vintage photographs that comprise this exhibition depict the complex, often deeply passionate relationships of mariners with their vessels and the sea, providing insight into our history as explorers and adventurers in this vast and unpredictable world. The exhibition showcases 100 black and white photographs of the fishing, sailing, and whaling traditions off international shores as well as naval encounters, shipbuilding ventures and intimate views of daily maritime life.

Photography was invented in 1839 during an age of optimism and growth in the United States. Geographic expansion and rapid industrial development showed a vigorous society on its onward march, and the camera was tailor-made to reflect the accomplishments of the era. Nowhere is this more vividly illustrated than in photographers’ documentation of maritime themes. The surviving photographic record, as presented in this exhibition, is powerful testimony to the ways in which the sea has permeated every aspect of national life, from the grand spectacle of naval fleet reviews to the lone fisherman adrift at sea.

A Maritime Album is organized by The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. The images were selected by photographic historian John Szarkowski, retired Curator of Photography of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and are accompanied with text by Richard Benson, Dean of the Art School at Yale University.

ANYA LEWIS

freezetag

Anya Lewis creates small, sculpted figures and places them in nearly empty, white rooms where they seem to be frozen in battle with unseen forces. Her installations focus attention on the subtle details of her characters which embody multifaceted emotions: desires, ambitions, frustrations, and fears. In her artist’s statement Lewis explained, “As players of the children’s game [freeze tag] unfreeze one another by touching, viewers draw upon empathy and intuition to metaphorically unfreeze the characters and explore their ambiguous narratives.” To each character Anya Lewis gives just enough information to begin to tell its story, leaving the conclusion up to the viewer’s imagination.

Museum of Art

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 9 am – 5 pm. Sunday 11 am – 5 pm.

Admission: $3.00 per person. No charge for Museum Members and UM students with Maine Card.

Directions

From the North
I-95, Exit 185 (formerly 48) – Broadway, (Bangor, Brewer)
Turn left at light onto Broadway, Rt. 15
At the 4th light (1.2 m), turn right onto State St., Rt. 2
At the light at the bottom of the hill (.1 m), turn right on to Harlow St. (a one-way street)
Merge into left lane, turn left into parking lot of Norumbega Hall.

From the South
I-95, Exit 185 (formerly 48) – Broadway, (Bangor, Brewer)
Turn left at light on to Broadway, Rt. 15
At the 3rd light (1.1 mi), turn right onto State St., Rt. 2
At the light at the bottom of the hill (.1 mi), turn right onto Harlow St. (a one-way street)
Merge into left lane, turn left into parking lot of Norumbega Hall.