Oct. 22, 2010
Contact Joe Miller at 608-796-3757 or jemiller@viterbo.edu
“ALMOST HOME: WHAT TO BRING TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM” MULTIMEDIA ART EXHIBIT TO OPEN IN VITERBO GALLERY NOV. 3
LA CROSSE, Wis. – An exhibit featuring the multimedia art of John Freyer entitled “Almost Home: Welcome to the Magic Kingdom” will be on display in the Viterbo University Gallery beginning with a reception at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3.
The exhibit is a multimedia exploration of the complex motivations people have for holding on to individual objects, from family heirlooms, photographs, and antiques, to objects that are completely utilitarian and mundane.
“During two weeks of on location interviews, I asked residents of The Villages retirement community to choose an item currently in their new and likely last home that they had to have with them from their previous homes,” Freyer wrote in an artist statement. “By asking the participants to choose only a single item, “Almost Home” requires the participants to reflect on all of the objects that fill their homes and to determine which one holds the greatest significance for them. I also interviewed the participants about their choices on video and audio and created stylized portraits of the individuals and couples with their selected object.”
Freyer is an Assistant Professor of Studio Art in the School for Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. In 2011 he will be a Fulbright Fellow in Stockholm, Sweden. He is an interdisciplinary artist whose projects include his internationally renowned Internet project “All My Life for Sale,” and his PBS pilot, Second Hand Stories. His work has been reviewed in The New Yorker, The Sunday London Times, Art Forum, Print Magazine and on NBC’s The Today Show. His first book All My Life for Sale was optioned by Scott Free Productions and the Oscar nominated writer/director team Shari Berman and Robert Pulcini are attached to write the screenplay and direct the feature film adaptation.
The exhibit will run until Wednesday, Dec. 1. There is no admission fee to the gallery, which is located on the third floor of the Fine Arts Center on campus. The gallery is open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. when school is in session.
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