Zulu Ceramics & Body/Image Exhibits at Faulconer Gallery

Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery will open two exhibitions on Nov. 14 with ties to the college's permanent art collection: "Body/Image," curated by Dan Strong, and "Ukucwebezela: To Shine," curated by Grinnell College alumna Elizabeth Perrill.

"Body/Image" is an exhibition of works by 16 artists represented in the college's collection whose subject matter is the human body. According to Strong, associate director of the gallery, the contemporary images on view "demonstrate the human body as imperfect, individual, self-destructive, and self-creative." Strong selected the works from recent acquisitions, including gifts from Grinnell College alumni and purchases through the Marie Louise and Samuel R. Rosenthal endowed fund to support the college's art collection.

"Ukucwebezela: To Shine" is a collection of contemporary Zulu ceramics, curated by Perrill who was inspired to study African art in the college's collection while a Grinnell student. She later developed her own collection as part of her art history research in South Africa. "To Shine" refers to the careful burnishing preferred by Zulu ceramists. All of the works in the exhibition were crafted within the past 20 years, and three are from the college's collection.

"When I realized that Grinnell's collection could, once again, be closely tied with my ongoing passion for African art history, I was inspired to return to Faulconer Gallery to open the first U.S. exhibition of my doctoral research," Perrill said. She will deliver a slide presentation about "Ukucwebezela" on Nov. 14 at 4:15 p.m. in Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. The Zulu ceramics exhibition will also be shown at the University of Indiana where Perrill completed her doctoral work.

An opening reception for "Body/Image" and "Ukucwebezela" will be held Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. at Faulconer Gallery, where the works will be on display through December 14. On November 19, the Grinnell College Libraries will sponsor an open mic session of poetry, fiction, and music from 7:45 to 9 p.m. in the gallery. On Dec. 4 at 4:15 p.m., Tiffany Johnson Bidler, instructor in art, will discuss "Body/Image" in the gallery. "Yoga in the Gallery with Jennifer Mavin" will be held in the gallery at noon on Nov. 19 and Dec. 10.

Faulconer Gallery is open Sunday-Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m., and Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (closed on Thanksgiving Day). For more information about Faulconer Gallery, call 641-269-4660 or woodward@grinnell.edu.