UMaine Art Exhibit Features Work of Josef Albers, His Students
The University of Maine Department of Art will present the work of artist, educator and color theorist Josef Albers and two of his students, globally recognized artists Neil Welliver and Jane Davis Doggett, in an exhibit that will run June 16 to July 18 in the Lord Hall Gallery on campus.
The “Albers & Heirs” exhibit will offer an in-depth look at the importance of Albers’ contribution as an art educator and the work of his students — Welliver and Doggett — who mastered his discipline of color interaction and made it an essential aspect of their work.
The public is invited to an opening reception and gallery tour 5–7 p.m. Monday, June 16. During the event, exhibit curator Osvaldo Monzon will give a gallery talk, titled “To Make Eyes Open,” and Doggett will speak about her time at Yale where she worked with and was influenced by art faculty members Albers and Welliver.
Welliver, who died in 2005, is known for large-scale paintings of the Maine woods that featured bold colors with an illusion of depth.
Doggett of Corea, Maine, is an internationally acclaimed graphic designer and artist who pioneered the field of environmental design. She has created more than 40 projects for international airports — more than any other designer, her website states.
“Whereas Albers comes to color to explore, and Welliver to conquer, Doggett uses color as an open invitation,” her official biography reads.
Albers (1888–1976) attended and then taught at the Bauhaus, the art school in Germany that transformed modern design and emphasized the connection between artists, architects and craftspeople. He came to the United States in 1933 to teach at the innovative Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and was chairman of the Department of Design at the Yale University School of Art from 1950 to 1958, according to the Joesf & Anni Albers Foundation.
“The exhibit marks a significant occasion for the university in underscoring the importance of the Bauhaus school via Black Mountain College to current arts education here at UMaine and across North America,” says Michael Grillo, chair of the UMaine Department of Art.
The exhibit will include participation by artist Jane Lincoln of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and is sponsored by Clement and Linda McGillicuddy. The opening reception is sponsored by Whitney and Tony Oppersdorf; Taylor Mudge; Shelia Geoffrion and Robert Lawson; and Wickham Skinner.
Lord Hall Gallery is open 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information or to request a disability accommodation, contact Grillo at 581.3246 or michael.grillo@umit.maine.edu.
Contact: Elyse Kahl, 207.581.3747