Husk-E-News, September 2008

Storrs, CT, September 9, 2008 — October exhibitions at the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut include Sera: The Way of the Tibetan Monk, The Photographs of Sheila Rock; The 43rd Annual Art Department Faculty Exhibition, and Bound by Tradition and Religion: Tibetan Tangkas.

On view through December 19:
Sheila Rock’s Sera: The Way of the Tibetan Monk is both a photographic document of the daily life of the Tibetan monks of the Sera Monastery of southern India and an extended visual essay on a state of mind.

Ms. Rock, an established photographer in the fields of fashion and rock music, photographed the Sera monks individually and in groups -- in their rooms, at work, at prayer, at play, and gathered at ceremonies. Her portrait studies, for their utter simplicity, capture the individual’s inner personality; all of her images reveal the mutual joy the monks for one another’s company and for the life that has been chosen for them. Artistically, Ms. Rock has created a body of works that is inspired and inspiring. This exhibition runs through December 19.

On view through October 12:
The 43rd Annual Art Department Faculty Exhibition of painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic design, printmaking, photography and installation art represents the diversity of themes and styles of the modern art world while highlighting the singularity of the artists’ visions. This year’s featured artists are Professors Deborah (Muirhead) Dancy and Ray DiCapua.

October 21 – December 19:
Bound by Tradition and Religion: Tibetan Tangkas is an exhibition of fabric art pieces from the collections of Peter Polomski and Richard Allen. Historically, the majority of Tibet's greatest art has been bound up with religion, and the most prominent traditions include scroll paintings called tangkas. The most complex of these are symmetrical depictions of many deities, and/or their symbolic representations, organized around a central divinity.

SPECIAL EVENTS IN OCTOBER

October 1 & 15, 12:15–12:45 pm: Lunchtime Gallery Talks by museum staff and art department faculty / Free admission

October 18 & 19, 25 & 26, 2 pm: Weekend Tibetan Film Series / Free admission / For film titles, visit www.thebenton.org.

October 26, 3 pm: Sunday Afternoon Talk: "Landscape and Belief: A View Camera in the Himalayas" with Kenneth Hanson / Free admission Ken Hanson will show and talk about his dramatic photographs of the Himalayan mountains, images of extreme beauty, joy, terror, and awe.

The William Benton Museum of Art, Connecticut's Official State Art Museum, is located on the University of Connecticut campus, 245 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2140, Storrs, CT 06269-2140. Gallery hours are Tuesday–Friday 10 am–4:30 pm, Saturday–Sunday 1–4:30 pm. The Store at the Benton and Café Muse close at 4 pm each day. Ph 860.486.4520. Website: www.thebenton.org.