Since its inception in 1999, the Perrella Gallery on the FM campus has become one of the pre-eminent exhibition spaces in our region. The 1200 square foot facility is administered by the Foundation of FM, Inc. and annually hosts work not only by student and local artists, but national and internationally known artists as well.

The gallery is located between the library and theater at the western end of the main classroom building and is open from 10 am to 5 pm on weekdays and until 9 pm on Thursdays.

An exhibition that focuses on the relative size of things

Oct. 16 - Dec. 11, 2009

The Powers of Ten is the first in a series of exhibitions at FM’s Perrella Gallery to celebrate the gallery’s tenth year of exhibitions. The exhibit explores the element of scale and the relative size of things in the universe through the varied perspectives of a group of ten national and regional artists working with a similar theme.

These ten artists use their environment for inspiration and often work through direct observation. “The ten artists represented in this show work in a realistic style but utilize a different scale or have chosen a different point of view that isn’t normally experienced. In viewing things in a new way we look beyond our normal sphere of understanding, and in doing so open our minds to discovery and progress,” said Torrance Fish, Guest Curator of the new exhibition. Fish based the theme of the exhibit around the 1977 short film by the famous husband and wife designers, architects, artists and film makers Charles and Ray Eames who created what may be their most well know film: Powers of Ten.

Powers of Ten, inspired from an earlier book for children, Cosmic View, by Dutch schoolteacher Kees Beoke, explores the “relative size of things in the universe and the effect of adding another zero.” The nine-minute film starts with a couple enjoying a picnic in a Chicago park. The width of the shot begins on a 1-meter square and every 10 seconds shows an area 10 times larger than the previous. The view grows exponentially as the scene passes a harbor and Soldiers Field, the windy city and the southern end of Lake Michigan, the whole great lake and cloud cover over the Midwest . . . The view continues to recede past the whole of Earth, the entire Milky Way Galaxy, until its most outward point – 100 million light years away where entire galaxies appear as small points of light. The scene pauses for a moment until the sped up journey back to the hand of the man at the picnic. From there the film takes us to a close up of the skin on the back of the man’s hand, through the wall of a capillary, ending in the nucleus of a carbon atom in a white blood cell. The film takes the viewer through a journey of 40 powers of ten.

Recognition of the influence of this film was given in 1998 when it was deemed “culturally significant” by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. New generations of artists, architects and designers are drawing inspiration from this ground breaking and influential work. Powers of Ten gives us the opportunity to expand the way we perceive and process the information received from the world around us. When we see our surroundings from a new perspective we can begin to understand what Charles Eames meant when he said, “eventually everything connects.”

Fish, an artist and Senior Exhibition Preparator for the Tang Teach Museum at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs was a 1995 graduate of FM’s Fine Arts program. “It is significant that this exhibition serves as the first in a series of exhibits to mark the tenth anniversary of the gallery,” said Joel Chapin, Director of the Perrella Gallery. “This is not only a fascinating exhibition which seeks to blur the boundaries of art, science and psychology, but it also highlights the creativity and professional successes of one of our former students.”

The artworks in this exhibition range from the macro to the microscopic. They utilize a variety of artistic method and materials. And with works like Lee Boroson’s photographic prints of the nighttime sky with the black removed, Kevin Klein’s close-up paintings of skin, or Roger Bisbing’s empty miniature meeting spaces, they explore areas including astronomy, biology and sociology.

The Perrella Gallery is sponsored by the Foundation of FM through donor supported funds.  The Foundation seeks to support FM’s Fine Arts program and to help fulfill FM’s mission to be a cultural resource for the community.

An artists’ reception sponsored by the Foundation of FM is scheduled for Friday, October 16 from 7-9 p.m. at the Gallery, refreshments will be served and the public is cordially welcome. Gallery hours are: M-F 10 a.m.-5 p.m. with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursday or by appointment. Closed weekends and holidays. For further information please contact the Foundation of FM at 762-4651 Ext 3702 or the Perrella Gallery at Ext. 4112.

April 2009 High School Art Show

 

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