Arts and Humanities

Kinetic Art Will Highlight 2013 Texas Sculpture Symposium at MSU

28 October 2013
3 min read

Two internationally known masters of kinetic art will highlight the 2013 Texas Sculpture Symposium Nov. 1-3 at the Midwestern State University's Juanita Harvey Art Gallery and the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU. Japanese sculptor Hironari Kubota will spin a car and artist Arthur Ganson will be the keynote speaker.

Kubota is known worldwide for large scale works that put cars and boats into motion in a blend of performance and kinetic art. Kubota will spin a 1950s-model Chevrolet in an art performance at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, on the east side of the Fain Fine Arts Center near the corner of Teepee Drive and Nocona Trail. Although Kubota has exhibited his outdoor sculptures and spinning pieces around the world in countries such as China, Finland, France, Germany, and Mexico, this is his first display in the United States.

"Performance art and kinetic art build a more dynamic relationship with an audience," said Gary Goldberg, Professor of Art in the Juanita and Ralph Harvey School of Visual Arts. "This puts a new æspin' on art."

Ganson has been making kinetic sculptures for more than 30 years. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe and in numerous magazines including Smithsonian Magazine and the New York Times Magazine. In 2005, the PBS science program NOVA scienceNOW profiled his work. Ganson will speak at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 2 in Fain Fine Arts C111.

"Having nationally and internationally known artists for this symposium is exciting," said Suguru Hiraide, Associate Professor of Art at MSU. "This brings important opportunities for the symposium participants."

In addition to hosting Kubota and Ganson, the Sculpture Network of Texas will honor artists and educators Sara Waters of Slaton, Texas, and Benson Warren of Lawton, Okla., in the exhibition 2013 Texas Sculpture Network Honorary Educators Sara Waters and Benson Warren. Events for the public include a reception from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at the Juanita Harvey Art Gallery at MSU. The reception includes the opening of the Kappa Pi Exhibition in the Foyer Gallery. The Waters and Warren works will be on display through Jan. 10, 2014. The Kappa Pi exhibits will be on display through Nov. 29, 2013.

Sara Waters is a retired professor from Texas Tech University School of Art in Lubbock where she taught all levels of sculpture and drawing. Waters joined Tech's art faculty in 1977 and retired in August after 36 years of teaching.

Benson Warren has numerous exhibitions to his credit and his work is included in many private and public collections. He has been a professor of art at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., for the past 40 years.

The Kemp Center for the Arts in downtown Wichita Falls also will host conference attendees Saturday for lunch and a tour of its Sculpture Garden with pieces on display by Sculpture Network of Texas members.

Other conference speakers include western sculptor Joe Edd Barrington of Throckmorton, Texas, and Tara Conley of Houston.

A public reception will be held from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art for "Texas Sculpture: Inside and Out; Invitational Exhibitions." Those pieces will be on display through Feb. 22, 2014. The exhibit is made possible through grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Still Water Foundation.

The 2013 Texas Sculpture Symposium is co-sponsored by MSU and the Sculpture Network of Texas The Texas Sculpture Symposium began in the 1970s as a way for sculptors to meet and exchange ideas, and met annually into the 1980s. The symposium was revived in 2004 through Waters' efforts. In even-numbered years, the Texas Tech School of Art hosts the symposium at the TTU Center at Junction in collaboration with the Sculpture Network of Texas.

For more information, visit http://www.msutexas.edu/academics/finearts/art/gallery/tss2013, or contact Hiraide at (940) 397-4389 or suguru.hiraide@msutexas.edu, or Catherine Prose at (940) 397-4304.