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THE ROTUNDA GALLERY
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE 2003-2004

Clear Intentions
September 4 - October 18, 2003
Guest curator: Robert C. Morgan

The notion of having an intention in art crystallized during the conceptual art movement in the early seventies, when to have an intention was a kind of ideational justification for what one was doing or hoped to do. But it was soon apparent that not all of art required a stated intention; some was perfectly fine without the rhetoric. Clear Intentions comprises a diverse group of artists, whose work embodies a conventional medium: René Pierre Allain, Phong Bui, Bill Jensen, Gwnaël Kerlidou, Sang Nam Lee, Margrit Lewczuk, Pierre Louaver, Chris Martin, Jacques Roch, and Penelope Umbrico. Abstract painters, sculptors and one photographer -- each artist has constructed a pictorial language that is free from the rhetoric of identity politics.

Robert C. Morgan is a writer, art critic, curator and teacher. He has authored over twelve hundred articles and reviews and writes for ArtNews, Sculpture, New York Arts, and Tema Celeste. He has authored numerous books, catalogues and monographs. Recent books include: Art into Ideas: Essays on Conceptual Art (1996), Between Modernism and Conceptual Art (1997), and Alain Kirili (2002). He has curated more than twenty exhibitions and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts and at Pratt Institute; he is Associate Director of Art/Omi International Artists Workshop.

Explaining Magic
November 13 - December 27, 2003
Benefit Preview: Wednesday, November 5, 2003
Curators: Meridith McNeal and Janet Riker

Seducers, snake charmers, conjurers, tricksters -- artists create magic through their work. The painters and sculptors in Explaining Magic ground their work in the everyday world in the same way that fairy tales and dreams often have their roots in the familiar. Spinning gold from straw, these artists transform the known into the unknown. By using the everyday as a source of inspiration, they remind the viewer of his/her own creative capacity to wonder. Participating artists include Kanik Chung, Dawn Clements, Michael Houston, Ik-Joong Kang, Peter Krashes, Zoë Sheehan Saldaña, Rachel Selekman, and Mary Temple.

Curatorial Initiative Exhibition
January 15 - February 28, 2004
tbd, guest curator

This exhibition will be selected by the Rotunda Gallery Artist Advisory Committee as part of our Curatorial Initiative, a competitive program that supports emerging curators. The program gives young curatorial talents the opportunity to realize a large-scale exhibition in a professional museum setting. Five finalists have been selected and are currently preparing exhibition proposals; in September one exhibition will be selected for presentation. Previous exhibitions in the program have included: What Happened in Lime Mills? (2002) by guest curator Nelly Reifler, and Critical Consumption (2003) by guest curator Jonathan Allen.

Untitled Exhibition on Recycling and Conservation
March 18 - May 8, 2004
Curators: Meridith McNeal and Janet Riker

In collaboration with Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill in the Bronx, this joint exhibition will examine recycling and conservation as a subject for contemporary artists. In the tradition of Duchamp and the Dada movement, contemporary artists frequently recycle, employing found objects for their political and/or social reference or to add layers of meaning to works of art. Recycling takes another artistic form as post-modern image appropriation. In addition, many working artists have turned their creative energies to environmental issues, seizing the opportunity to comment on our society's consumption of resources. Reflecting these concerns, the exhibition may utilize recycled materials from Brooklyn-based businesses.

KidsArt
June 3 - June 19, 2004
Opening: KIDSDAY, June 3, 2004
Meridith McNeal, curator

Throughout the season exhibitions at the Rotunda Gallery serve as the inspiration for discussion and hands-on art projects for children from kindergarten through high school. The Rotunda Gallery education program reaches over 7,000 students through its outreach and professional development programs in schools throughout the borough. Kidsart includes examples of artwork from all of the Rotunda's education programs: class visits, Mini-Museum outreach programs, and professional development workshops for teachers and administrators.

The Rotunda Gallery is located at 33 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, noon-5pm and Saturday, 11am-4pm. Admission is free. Information: 718-875-4047; or http://www.brooklynX.org/rotunda.