Published: March 18, 2008 07:46 pm         

The Exquisite Corpse in Glass on display at University Art Gallery

TERRE HAUTE — “The Exquisite Corpse in Glass: Figurative Flameworkers Play a Surrealist Game” will be on display at Indiana State University’s Art Gallery through April 4.

The exhibition includes works by 11 internationally known glass artists that re-examine Cadavre Exquis (Exquisite Corpse) in a series of 20 seductive glass figures. The exhibition takes on a communal approach based on the history of the Surrealist Game invented in 1925. Each flame-worked, sculpted glass figure is composed of three parts, a head, torso and legs. Drawn at random prior to the installation, one figure’s head will be assembled with a different torso, and yet another’s legs, resulting in 6,840 potential sculptural variations. The Exquisite Corpse in Glass ends up a completely new and spectacular display each time it is installed.

Jack Gates, faculty emeritus from the Department of Art, randomly drew each of the 20 glass figures on Tuesday.

Artists participating in the exhibition include Karen Buhler, Shane Fero, Caitlin Beaven, Marshall Hyde, Carmen Lozar, Robert Mickelsen, Pat Owens, Emilio Santini, Loren Stump, Milon Townsend and Bernd Weinmayer.

An open reception honoring the artists is scheduled 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Hyde and Beam will have a gallery talk about the exhibit on the same day beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the University Art Gallery.

The Exquisite Corpse in Glass is organized and traveled by the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University, and is curated by Marshall Hyde, an independent curator, and Michael J. Beam, curator of exhibitions at the Castellani Art Museum. The exhibition is provided with support from Arts Illiana, the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

The University Art Gallery is in the Center for Performing and Fine Arts at Seventh and Chestnut streets. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. All gallery events are free and the facility is wheelchair accessible. For more details, visit www.indstate.edu/artgallery or call (812) 237-3720.