THE LONG DAY: Sculpture by Claudette Schreuders
The ASU Art Museum presents the first solo exhibition of sculpture and prints by South African artist Claudette Schreuders in an American museum.
The Long Day features eleven new sculptures, lithographs and drawings by South African artist Claudette Schreuders. Schreuders is best known for her autobiographical figurative sculpture inspired by family photographs and memories and by the specific social experience of growing up white, female and Afrikaans in the broader political context of South Africa. Assembled from carved and painted wood, the works often include other materials such as iron, leather, nails and found objects, reflecting the influence of African sculpture. Schreuders’ accessible but moody works convey the revolutionary changes in South Africa and of individuals grappling with the country’s inscrutable past. “(The) sense of (my) dislocation was not only the result of a European heritage within an African context, but also the marginalization that formed part of a restrictive society that set limits and threatened to reject those who did not conform.” *
The new body of work for The Long Day is more complex. With continued emphasis on personal, individual experience, Schreuders reflects on the burden of representing contemporary South African political and social realities. Her allegorical figures range from works inspired by family history to anonymous figures observed in private moments that become political in a public space – like reading the newspaper about Rwanda in a park. Schreuders draws for inspiration from the iconography and style of African tribal art, the Colon figures of West Africa of European colonials, and Western traditions of religious woodcarving, particularly Northern and Spanish baroque sources. Taken together the works form a compelling exhibition.
* From the artist’s statement in Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Museum for African Art, New York , 2000.
About the Artist
Claudette Schreuders received a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Cape Town in 1997. Her work has been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in South Africa, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and the United States, and solo exhibitions at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York.
Exhibition Catalogue
A full color catalogue is available for this exhibition.
Information on the catalogue can be found at the
ASU Art Museum publications page.
Exhibition Tour
After the premiere of the exhibition at the ASU Art Museum, this exhibition will be available for touring to other institutions. Tour information.
Presentation
The exhibition was jointly organized by the ASU Art Museum and San Diego State University Art Gallery, and co-curated by Heather S. Lineberry and Tina Yapelli. The
exhibition will travel nationally.
Duration
THE LONG DAY: Sculpture by Claudette Schreuders (March 20 – June 19, 2004) is open at the Nelson Fine Arts Center: Tuesday from 10am to 9pm and Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
Support
Exhibition, catalogue and education programs sponsored in part by Mikki and Stanley Weithorn, the Tides Foundation, Evelyn Smith Family Endowment and the Friends of the ASU Art Museum. Special thanks to Jack Shainman and the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
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