Cardillo exhibit opens semester at Art Museum

The University Art Museum is kicking off the semester with a new exhibition that incorporates four decades of printmaker Rimer Cardillo’s artwork.

The presentation, entitled “Quiet Cruelties: Prints, Sculptures, and Unique Works on Paper by Rimer Cardillo,” features printed imagery of insects, animals, and ancient human remains. Various printing methods were used to create the pieces, including woodcut, engraving, etching, aquatint, mezzotint, and silkscreen. Cardillo, professor of art at SUNY New Paltz, exhibits his work around the world and represented his native country of Uruguay at the contemporary art exhibition Venice Biennale in 2001.

Diane Butler, director of the Art Museum, said that the museum staff decided to showcase Cardillo’s work on a recommendation from Alexandra Davis, an adjunct professor of printmaking and drawing at Binghamton University.

“Alexandra had studied with him at SUNY New Paltz and suggested that he may be a good person for us to feature because his printmaking methods were so interesting,” Butler said. “The staff wanted to show his work because of the interesting combination of printing techniques and the fascinating subject matter.”

Cardillo’s work gives students the opportunity to examine original pieces of art, as opposed to only reading about them in books. Butler said that it is essential for students who are studying art to look at original works.

“One of the reasons why we have an art collection on campus is for art students to study original works of art,” Butler said. “One of the things that I hope to expand our mission on is in the areas outside of art and art history, so that students in history, political science, biology, chemistry, all sorts of students will consider this collection worthy of their attention.”

The exhibition aims to attract students and faculty from all disciplines through the related events that are coming up in the next several weeks. One in particular is a gallery talk titled “An Entomologist Considers Art” with Julian Shepherd, professor of biology, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in FA-213.

“I think it is fascinating to have people who are outside the discipline to engage with works of art because they will see it with different eyes,” Butler said.

In regards to visitors, Butler hopes that “a cross-section” of people will visit the museum. One section includes people of all ages. “We are free, and we welcome everyone from children to senior citizens,” she said. This week she will teach a Lyceum course, which is an adult education course that normally attracts retired citizens who want to learn more about a specific subject. Butler will present a course titled “Printmakers and Their Methods” on Feb. 7 about printmaking, from old techniques of etching and engraving to the present methods that Cardillo uses in his featured works.

The other cross-section that Butler refers to includes people who visit the museum that have different bases of artistic knowledge and “different areas of expertise,” she said.

Another aspect that broadens the appeal of the exhibition is the small collection of illustrated books of natural history on loan from the Special Collections of the Binghamton University library.

“The artist was inspired by illustrated books. So the presentation is a nice conversation between older techniques and scientific purpose, and new techniques and artistic purpose,” Butler said.

Another event that will be taking place in connection to the exhibition is “An Introduction to Biological Illustration: Its History, Uses, and Some Methods.” The workshop will be led by Marla Coppolino, a technical artist from the Cornell Center for Technology and Commercialization, and will take place from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, March 2, in FA-213.

The exhibition will be on display until March 23. A reception and talk with the artist will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in FA-213.