Recent Acquisitions
Two significant recent additions to the Samek Art Gallery Permanent Collection are work by noted contemporary artists Agnes Denes and Chuck Close.
Agnes Denes
Stelae - Messages from Another Time - Discoveries of Minds and People, 1986
Agnes C. Denes
Agnes C. Denes
American born in Hungary (b. 1938)
Stelae - Messages from Another Time - Discoveries of Minds and People, 1986
hand-carving on pink Portuguese marble
62 x 41 x 6 in.
Gift of Robert Florence and Ashley Chertkof, Edward and Marthann Lauver Samek, Charles J. and Szilvia Tannenbaum
2005.5.1
This sculpture is comprised of two hand-carved marble tablets that depict major scientific breakthroughs. A plaque identified as written in the year 6000 AD in the country of "Vandonia," accompanies the Stelae. About the 1986 stones, it states, "A major and unique find, extremely well preserved and restored to near original condition." and "By studying the symbols, one arrives at a better understanding of the people who lived toward the end of the second millennium."
Denes's work parallels what is unique about Bucknell--she embraces the liberal arts and sciences including art, mathematics, sciences, philosophy, nature, poetry, etc. The "Stelae" focus on science and engineering. The sculpture is the first major public artwork to be added to campus in many years. It will be installed on the courtyard side of the Science building. The unveiling is planned for fall 2006.
Agnes Denes is internationally known for her environmental art, public projects, and work in other media. She was the focus of "Agnes Denes: Projects for Public Spaces," which premiered in the Samek Art Gallery spring 2003, then traveled nationally, and a retrospective at the Herbert Johnson museum of Art at Cornell University in 1992.
Chuck Close and Bob Holman
Chuck Close (b. 1940) American
Bob Holman (b. 1948) American
A Couple of Ways of Doing Something, 2003
20 scanned and digitally printed daguerreotypes by Chuck Close, and
20 typeset and letterpress poems by Bob Holman, edition 25/75
16 1/2" x 13" each page
University purchase, with funding from the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Association for the Arts, and art acquisition funds.
This portfolio includes 20 Close photographic portraits and Holman praise poems of many significant artists of our time. Close’s detailed photographs are stunning and personal. Holman’s praise poems vary from lyrical, expansive and witty, to concise and concrete. The images and poems share a sense of intimacy that is characteristic to the mediums of daguerreotype and the book form.
The artists: Laurie Anderson, Lyle Ashton-Harris, Cecily Brown, Chuck Close, Gregory Crewdson, Carroll Dunham, Ellen Gallagher, Philip Glass, Bob Holman, Elizabeth Murray, Elizabeth Peyton, Cindy Sherman, Andres Serrano, James Siena, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, James Turrell, Robert Wilson, Terry Winters, and Lisa Yuskavage.
Close is one of the foremost artists of out time, and is internationally recognized for his paintings, prints and photographs. In 1998 the Museum of Modern Art presented a retrospective of his work. Holman is considered one of the country’s preeminent performing and spoken word poets, and is instrumental in promoting and presenting poetry as founder of NYC Poetry Calendar, and curator of People’s Poetry Gathering.
