News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Evangeline Politis
Communication Specialist
312.915.6324
epolitis@luc.edu
Museum Will Feature the Work of Contemporary Chicago
Photographers and Announces Free Admission through November
CHICAGO, May 31, 2017—Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) focuses on the art of photography this summer and will feature three new exhibitions opening Saturday, July 1: Susan Aurinko: Searching for Jehanne – The Joan of Arc Project, Jeffrey Wolin: Pigeon Hill: Then and Now, and Michelle Murphy: Responsive Beauty. On display through Saturday, October 21, this collection of exhibitions showcases the work of local artists exploring issues of identity, struggle, and perseverance. To celebrate these Chicago photographers, LUMA will offer free admission from Tuesday, June 6, through Saturday, November 11.
Susan Aurinko: Searching for Jehanne — The Joan of Arc Project
In 2013, Chicago-based artist Susan Aurinko went on a photographic expedition to France. While in the Loire Valley, she visited a 12th century chateau that was once the temporary home of St. Joan of Arc. Captivated by the legend of the saint, Aurinko repeatedly returned to photograph the places where Joan of Arc once lived, prayed, and fought throughout her brief life. Aurinko employs layered images to explore the iconographic nature of this revered saint through popular culture, literature, feminism, and theology.
Jeffrey Wolin: Pigeon Hill: Then and Now
Jeffrey Wolin is internationally recognized for his distinct approach to combining photography with the written word. This recent project revisits a 1987–1991 portrait series depicting the residents of Pigeon Hill, a housing project in Bloomington, Indiana. Over the last five years, Wolin returned to Pigeon Hill and re-photographed more than 100 individuals. These compelling images share memories told by Pigeon Hill residents through handwritten narratives addressing drug addiction, violence, poverty, friendship, and hope. Placed side by side in the galleries, these paired portraits trace three decades of life at Pigeon Hill.
Michelle Murphy: Responsive Beauty
Responsive Beauty explores the complexities of creating abstract work that is sociopolitical in content. Michelle Murphy’s photographs feature beauty products as art materials and consider the triangular relationship between consumer culture, the beauty industry, and the wage disparity between genders. The resulting images reveal the capacity of cosmetics to function as both a metaphor and a consumable object. Murphy is a Chicago-based artist with a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a photographer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for more than a decade.
For more information on these exhibitions, visit LUC.edu/luma.
Public Programming
The following events take place at LUMA, 820 N. Michigan Avenue. Visit LUC.edu/luma for a full schedule.
Summer 2017 Exhibitions Opening Reception
Friday, July 14, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Please join LUMA in celebrating the opening of our summer exhibitions: Susan Aurinko: Searching for Jehanne – The Joan of Arc Project, Jeffrey Wolin: Pigeon Hill: Then and Now, and Michelle Murphy: Responsive Beauty. Admission is $15 for the public and free for LUMA members and Loyola students, faculty, and staff.
Artist in Conversation: Jeffrey Wolin and David Travis
Tuesday, August 29, 6-7:30p.m.
Join photographer Jeffrey Wolin and David Travis, former chair of the department of photography of the Art Institute of Chicago, as they discuss Wolin’s work spanning three decades.
Women in Photography: Panel Discussion
Tuesday, September 26, 6-7:30p.m.
Featured artists Susan Aurinko and Michelle Murphy will join distinguished Loyola scholars in discussing issues facing women photographers in the contemporary art world.
About LUMA
Opened in 2005, the Loyola University Museum of Art is dedicated to exploring, promoting, and understanding art and artistic expression that illuminates the enduring spiritual questions of all cultures and societies. As a museum with an interest in education and educational programming, LUMA reflects the University’s Jesuit mission and is dedicated to helping people of all creeds explore the roots of their faith and spiritual quests. Located at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus, the museum occupies the first three floors of the University’s historic Lewis Towers on Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue. For more information, visit the museum’s website at LUC.edu/luma.
Art illuminating the spirit!
-LUMA-
