Syracuse University to honor “Gates” project with NYC art installation, major exhibition of filmmaker Maysles’ work

Syracuse University to honor “Gates” project with NYC art installation, major exhibition of filmmaker Maysles’ workJanuary 21, 2005Rob Enslinrmenslin@syr.edu

To acknowledge and celebrate “The Gates” project in Central Park by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Syracuse University is presenting its own public art installation in New York City as well as a major exhibition devoted to filmmaker Albert Maysles ’49, an SU alumnus who has been chronicling “The Gates” for more than 25 years.

Beginning Feb. 8, SU will display a spectacular six-story design on the outside of its Joseph I. Lubin House, 11 East 61st Street, near Barneys New York, the Pierre Hotel New York and Central Park. Titled “Syracuse HeART,” the display features an air-filled, translucent membrane and two large inflatable hearts that inflate and deflate to evoke SU’s status as “living, pulsating institution.” The design will be shown through March 4.

“Syracuse HeART” is one of 18 entries from a recent art competition titled “Off the Wall,” sponsored by SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and School of Architecture. The winning team received $1,000, in addition to $7,500 for the design, fabrication and installation of the piece, which will take place Feb. 7-8. Julio Salcedo-Fernandez, assistant professor of architecture in the School of Architecture, served as faculty adviser and designer to the six-member student team, and Ann Munly, associate professor of architecture, served as faculty mentor and University liaison. The student team is: Kelly Bennett and Jennifer Tarsio, both third year communications design majors in VPA; and Michael Cornoni, Colin Simmer, Joshua Simoneau, and Emillio Stokes, Jr., all third year architecture majors in the School of Architecture.

All “Off the Wall” submissions are the subject of a free public exhibition at Lubin House, Feb. 8-March 4. For more information, call Lubin House at (212) 826-0320 or visit http://lubinhouse.syr.edu.

Also as part of “The Gates” project, Lubin House is presenting several events devoted to legendary filmmaker Maysles.

The first is a free, public exhibition titled “Maysles Films Christo and Jeanne-Claude,” running Jan. 31-March 18. The exhibition features daily screenings of five Maysles films documenting the husband-and-wife team’s public art projects: “Christo’s Valley Curtain” (1974), “Running Fence” (1978), “Islands” (1986), “Christo in Paris” (1990), and “Umbrellas” (1995). The exhibition also includes a trailer from Maysles’ upcoming film, “The Gates,” which began production in 1979; a collection of movie stills and photographs; and his camera and recording devices.

The exhibition looks at more than 30 years of filmmaking by Albert Maysles and his brother, David Maysles, as they sought to capture on film the Christos and their art. It specifically examines the planning of each project, the political process each work engendered, the transforming qualities of the work on site, and the people who saw and lived with the art. David Maysles died in 1987.

During “The Gates” installation (Feb. 12-27), the Maysles exhibition is open in the Lubin House’s Palitz Gallery Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Lubin House is also serving as a “comfort station,” providing hot drinks and restrooms during “The Gates” installation a block away. Before and after “The Gates,” Jan. 31-Feb. 10 and Feb. 28-March 18, visitors should call the gallery for times and availability of the Maysles exhibition.

Lubin house is also hosting three invitation-only functions: A reception for “Syracuse HeART,” the “Off the Wall” submissions, and the Maysles exhibition, Feb. 11; guided tours of “The Gates” by SU’s Domenic Iacono and David Prince, Feb. 19; and a lecture by Maysles, part of Lubin’s “Second Wednesday” series, March 9.

In honor of Maysles’ 50th anniversary as a filmmaker, another exhibition–this one featuring his early photography from behind the Iron Curtain–is scheduled for Lubin House this summer.

Albert Maysles, who graduated from The College of Arts and Sciences at SU with a degree in psychology, is a leader of “Direct Cinema,” a “non-intervention” type of documentary filmmaking that is devoid of scripts, sets and narration. 2005 marks his 50th year of professional filmmaking and the 35th anniversary of his most famous documentary, “Gimme Shelter,” featuring the Rolling Stones. Maysles is also known for his films “Grey Gardens” and “Salesman” and his work with such celebrities as the Beatles, Marlon Brando and Muhammad Ali.

Located in New York City on East 61st Street, between Madison and Fifth avenues, the elegant Joseph I. Lubin House is the center for a wide range of SU alumni activity, both social and educational, and is a venue for classes, seminars, independent study programs, and admissions programs.