Unfolding Light: The Evolution of Ten Holographers

Muscatine Art Center

Muscatine, IA

319-263-8282

Unfolding Light: The Evolution of Ten Holographers

The Muscatine Art Center is pleased to present "Unfolding Light: The Evolution of Ten Holographers," a fascinating survey the development of art holography since the 1960s, which will be on display through April 9,2000.(left: Dan Schweitzer, Spin, 1993, 9 1/2 x 13 inches, Courtesy of the Artist)

Holography is a process for recording images in three dimensions. To create a hologram, a laser is used as a light source. Invented in the late 1940s, holography was more fully developed during the 1960s. While holography has numerous industrial and commercial applications, ranging from non-destructive testing to advertising and credit card security, it also has creative properties which can be used to make works of art. Artists first made and exhibited holograms in the late 1960s. Today, individuals all over the world work in the medium and extend its imaging abilities beyond merely replicating three-dimensional objects. Subjects explored by artists using holography include portraits, still lifes, landscapes and abstract compositions.

"Unfolding Light: The Evolution of Ten Holographers" is organized by guest curator René Paul Barilleaux for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum. It explores the work of holography's first generation of artists, juxtaposing selections by ten innovators from the museum's permanent collection with recent works by these same artists. From the ongoing development of the art form, these individuals and their works have taken advantage of holography's unique imaging properties. Many of these individuals are photographers, actors, sculptors, painters, and designers. Characterized by a pioneering spirit, each one finds in holography a method for expressing him or herself which is impossible to achieve in any other medium. The artists in this exhibition have developed highly personal ideas and images which can be manifested only through holography. (right: Harriet Casdin-Silver, Ian, 1994, 12 x 16 inches, Collection of John Kaufman)

MIT Museum's renowned holography collection is the world's largest. With the former holdings of the Museum of Holography in New York City, the collection contains more than 1,500 holograms which document the history of holography from its inception in the late 1940s through its artistic and technical evolution. In 1997, the Museum inaugurated a state-of-the-art holography laboratory and launched an educational outreach program for Boston-area schools. (left: John Kaufman, Stone Room, 1982. 8 x 10 inches, MIT Museum Holography Collections, ©1993 Massachussetts Institute of Technology)

The tour of the exhibition was developed by Smith Kramer.

Read more about the Muscatine Art Center in Resource Library Magazine.

rev. 12/27/10

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