Keene State’s Thorne Art Gallery opened up two new exhibits with a reception on Thursday, Feb. 9 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The reception included food, beverages, and a chance to meet the artists behind the exhibits. One exhibit to be welcomed was the 100 Mile Radius Juried Art Show, which is a biannual event that features works from 50 artists from within a 100 mile radius of Keene, N.H.
Thorne Director Paul McMullan said that the guest jurors had over 400 entries that they had to narrow down.
“We hired two jurors: Denise Pelletier, who’s the chair of the art department of Connecticut College, and Peter Roos, who is our faculty emeritus from Keene State…We ha[d] 413 entries and we only really have room for about 50 pieces… the jurors pick what they considered to be the best 50 pieces,” McMullan said.
The pieces in the show ranged from a variety of techniques such as ceramics, cinder block, paintings, portraits and collages.
“It seemed like this group of judges picked a lot of landscapes and figurative work,” McMullan said. The “Dustcatchers” exhibit was handcrafted by artist Mark Burns and features a dozen of his pieces. “They’re all new and they haven’t been shown anywhere, so we’re really excited for this,” McMullan said. “They’re really wonderful little collage threedimensional pieces, it’s a really stellar show.” Burns is a faculty emeritus from the University of Las Vegas in Nevada and is currently teaching at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. “Mark is one of the premier ceramic artists in the United States,” McMullan said. “I’ve followed Mark’s career for a long time and we’ve become friends over the years.”
McMullan said that the art students at KSC can learn a lot from “Dustcatchers” and Burns’ work in general.
“I think it’s good for students to see just the way Mark [works], as he has been working without a ceramic kiln recently, so he’s been finding stuff in junk shops and stuff,” McMullan said. “Not having a kiln did not stop him from making it, and it just shows you can keep expressing yourself with different materials.” McMullan added, “I think it’s great for the students to see all the color he uses, the way he expresses himself and all his personal content; it goes way beyond a landscape.”
Regarding the Thorne welcoming two new exhibits at once, McMullan said that he “really like[d] doing two shows at the same time with the reception, [as] it brings in more people for one thing but exposes the local artist audience to Mark’s audience.”
The 100 Mile Radius Juried Art Show and “Dustcatchers” exhibits will be on display in the Thorne until April 1. Following these exhibits will be the annual KSC art students’ BFA and BA art show.
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
