Louisa Chase, untitled [Heads], 1990. Syracuse University Art Collection.
A gallery reception will be held on Thursday, October 24, from 6-8 p.m. At 7 p.m., Saluti ’99, G’09 will introduce guest speakers and fellow Syracuse University alumni Terrie Sultan ’73, director of the Parrish Art Museum; and Ted Holland ’03, artist manager at Hirschl & Adler Modern. They will discuss Chase’s time at Syracuse Univeristy in the 1970s, her impact on the changing New York City art scene of the 1980s, and the relevance of her work today.
The Palitz Gallery is located in Syracuse University’s Lubin House at 11 E. 61st St., New York City. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition runs through January 30, 2020 and is closed Thanksgiving weekend, December 21, 2019 through January 1, 2020, and Martin Luther King weekend. The exhibition and related programs are free and open to the public. Contact 212.826.0320 or lubin@syr.edu for more information.
About the Exhibition
The prints of Louisa Chase offer an astute overview to an extraordinary career; a satellite view of an enduring artistic expedition. She was one of few female artists to gain notoriety during the resurgence of painting in the 1980s, often associated with New Image painting and Neo Expressionist (NeoX) movements alongside Elisabeth Murray and Susan Rothenberg.
Her work in print represents a lifelong exploration of innovation and experimentation, and the selected works illustrate the evolution of Chase’s distinct visual vocabulary, giving insight into this lifelong exploration, as she described, as a ‘kamikaze curiosity.’ An active printmaker, Chase worked with the who’s who of publishers and workshops, including Tandem Press (Madison, Wisconsin), the Tamarind Institute [Albuquerque, New Mexico], Goya Girl Press (Baltimore, Maryland); as well as working with innovators of new techniques, such as solar-plate etching with Dan Welden (author of “Printmaking in the Sun:” Watson Guptill, 2001). Chase’s adeptness with the medium is also evident with her inclusion in the foremost contemporary print exhibitions and publications of the period; including the Museum of Modern Art’s 1997 “Thinking Print” and the 1987 nationally touring “A Graphic Muse, Prints by Contemporary American Women,” organized by Ruth Fine, the internationally recognized former curator of special projects in modern art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The exhibition also celebrates the recent gift of 58 prints and two portfolios to the Syracuse University Art Collection by the Louisa Chase Estate, making Syracuse University the largest repository of Chase’s paintings and prints. In 2017, the Louisa Chase Estate selected the Special Collection Resource Center at Syracuse University Libraries as home for the artist’s papers. This combination of her papers and artwork will be an invaluable resource for future study and curatorial research.
About the Palitz Gallery
The Palitz Gallery, located in Syracuse University’s Lubin House, is Syracuse University Art Galleries’ visual arts venue at 11 E. 61st Street in midtown Manhattan. Opened in 2003, the Gallery is made possible through the support of Syracuse University alumna Louise Palitz ‘44 and her husband Bernard. Throughout the year, the Gallery presents a variety of notable exhibitions from the University’s collection, including other partners of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC), as well as private and museum collections.
The Syracuse University Art Galleries is Syracuse University’s fine arts museum, offering the university community and the general public a dynamic schedule of engaging and thought-provoking exhibitions, all of them enriched by public programs. With its emphasis on American art and interpretation, and a focus on exploring art in its historical, cultural, and social contexts, the galleries serves as a museum-laboratory for our students and university community.
The Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Palitz Gallery are members of Syracuse University’s Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC).
For additional information, contact Emily Dittman, associate director, Syracuse University Art Galleries. Tel: 315.443.4097, ekdittma@syr.edu
Louisa Chase, untitled [Thicket], 1983. Syracuse University Art Galleries.
