Hidden from the traffic of campus, the summer work of Thomas Agran ’09 is on display in a dark, quiet space. Agran is curator for the “Subject Space: Interiors from the Grinnell College Art Collection” exhibit currently showing through Dec. 16 in the Print Study Room on the lower level of Burling Library.
“Subject Space” grew out of Agran’s internship with Faulconer Gallery this summer under Lesley Wright, director of the gallery. “I spent about 20 hours a week … researching for my exhibit, organizing the collection and planning for future exhibits,” he said.
The overriding theme of the exhibit is a focus on interior spaces, but within that theme is great variance in the prints. A forlorn panther stuck inside a dreary cage, made even more stark by the charcoal drawing, is shown in William Kentridge’s emotion-charged “Panther in Cage with Bowl.” A few prints down is a unique 3-D paper and sketch model encased in a normal flat frame of a project by Christo entitled “Corridor Storefront Project.”
A variety of media (including etchings and photography), moods and settings can be found in the small yet diverse show. Simple installations and captions help to keep the focus on the character, intimacy and emotion inherent in the interior spaces depicted.
All of the work for “Subject Space” was drawn from the Grinnell print collection. Wright said that the college’s collection serves as a sort of visual library. “Print collections are an enormous resource for learning,” she said. “This is a visually saturated world.”
Agran began putting “Subject Space” together by surveying the collection. “I looked through the college’s collection for good prints, prints I liked,” Agran said, adding that he soon noticed that many of these prints had an emphasis on interiors.
The next step for Agran was installing the art with the help of Milton Severe, Faulconer Gallery’s director of exhibition design. After framing the art and writing comments, he and Severe installed prints and adjusted the lighting in an afternoon.
Grinnell’s print collection is available to anyone who wishes to peruse the stacks, and Agran hopes to expose more people to the College’s collection of art. “Most people don’t take the time to see prints,” he said, adding that he hasn’t heard much reaction to the exhibit yet.
Agran is no stranger to art. He had a show in the Smith Gallery last year and has one planned for next week, and is the art editor for the Grinnell Review.
Agran was pleased with his experience and, as a Studio Art major, hopes to draw on the skills he learned in the future. “There’s not much potential for money, but there is potential for happiness,” he said. “I’ve gained a lot of respect for print managers and what they do.”
The Print Study Room is open from 1-10 p.m. weekdays. A reception for Agran and the exhibit will be held on Nov. 27 at 4:15 p.m. in the Print Study Room.
