Featured image: The Kresge Gallery at Lyon College will feature the work of Abigail Smithson and a few of her relatives for the exhibition “Close to Home” through Sept. 9. Image submitted by Lyon College.
The Kresge Gallery at Lyon College will feature the work of Abigail Smithson and a few of her relatives for the exhibition “Close to Home” through Sept. 9. There will be a reception with the artist on Thursday, Aug. 25, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The public is invited.
“Close to Home” is a collection of artwork that honors the legacy that Fred Danzig (1920-2015) left behind, including artwork made by him, his sisters Rose Schwartz (1922-2017) and Edith Grossman (1924-2021), his niece Lari Schwartz (b. 1952) and his great-niece, Abigail Smithson (b. 1988).
According to a media release from Lyon, the exhibition encompasses a multigenerational collection of art from the same family that offers various interpretations of beauty and observation.
“My great uncle Fred Danzig was a sculptor, and an artist’s artist, in every sense. He spent his career working the graveyard shift for USPS in Connecticut so that he could make his sculptures during the day. These pieces, and some of his 2D works, filled the house where I grew up in California as well as my grandmother’s house, which I often visited in south Florida. Fred hoped that his sculpted pieces would have a sense of impending movement, pieces that appeared out of balance when in reality they were grounded and sturdy. He completed drawn and 3D sketches for each of his works and hundreds of finished sculptures, almost all of which have not been seen outside of my family. His decision to engage life wholeheartedly through his art influenced his two sisters as well as his niece, who he told to ‘let it flow,’ and me, who when setting out to dedicate myself to art, felt the impact of his prolific and committed practice,” Smithson said in the release.
“It is an incredible opportunity to bring together the work of my elders alongside my own work, no matter their individual relationship to art,” Smithson said. “We all have found and find our source material and inspiration in different aspects of the world — from city landscapes to blocks of wood, from an appreciation for lakes, rocks, and birds to the joy of watching basketball. I hope to recognize the rich visual contributions that my extended family has made and is making and bring our work together to be read and understood as a whole.”
The Kresge Gallery is located on the campus of Lyon College in Batesville.
Have a news tip or event to promote? Email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget to download the White River Now mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Get up-to-date local and regional news/weather every weekday morning and afternoon from the First Community Bank Newsroom on Arkansas 103.3 KWOZ. White River Now updates are also aired weekday mornings on 93 KZLE, Outlaw 106.5, and Your FM 99.5.
