Art and illustration take stage at MOA

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    By CLARENCE TANG

    “Art & Illustration,” a symposium exploring the time-honored relationship between art and illustration, will be held in the Museum Auditorium of BYU’s Museum of Art from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today.

    “This is really a significant event for the museum,” explained Herman Dutoit, Head of Audience Education and Development for the museum. “Some of the most significant exponents of illustration in the country will come and speak to us at this symposium.”

    Many of the presenters, noted artists, illustrators and sculptors such as Benjamin and Jane Eisenstat, Burton Silverman, Fumio Yoshimura, Karandeep Singh, Murray Tinkelman, McRay Magleby and Norman Darais, have come from as far away as New York to address issues as diverse as “The History of American Illustration” to “Ten Things Artists Hate about Writers and Writers Hate about Artists.”

    “They’re all speaking from a personal perspective, but together they raise the same issues,” said Campbell Gray, director of the Museum of Art. “Nothing at the museum is done without a serious scholarly side. The exhibits are free, they are very nice, open to everyone who wants to see them, but underlying each exhibit is a scholarly issue or set of scholarly issues. The 2 or 3 sets of symposia we hold a year are a very important way of raising these issues in a very focused way.”

    According to Gray, the issue at hand today is the way the words “illustration” and “art” are used among artists, collectors, and appreciators. In medieval times, when a manuscript illuminator was considered as much of an artist as a painter was, there was little distinction between the two words. This distinction became more sharply defined, especially at the beginning of the twentieth century, but has become less distinct since the late modernism of the mid-1960s.

    This symposium will explore the ill-defined and changing relationship between the terms ‘art’ and ‘illustration’ as they exist at the end of the twentieth century.

    The symposium has been coordinated to coincide with the five temporary exhibits now on display at the museum. These include “Illumination: Word and Image,” featuring the manuscript illumination of medieval artist-illustrators, “Lines of Communication,” featuring poster art by McRay Magleby, “Constructing Realities,” a post-surrealist exhibit including works by Fumio Yoshimura, “Dreaming Eyes of Wonder,” a collection of classic children’s book illustrations, and the one-man exhibit “Sight and Insight: The Art of Burton Silverman.”

    Although the symposium is geared towards those in humanities, history, English, illustration, studio art and art history in particular, all interested parties are invited to attend. Admission is free.

    “For the students, it will broaden their horizons, expand their visions and give them a better understanding of the important dynamics of the field of visual art and how it impacts on many issues of praiseworthiness and significance,” said Dutoit.

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