Born in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodia border, Hon Eui Chen moved to Mississippi at the age of six. Growing up in the American South, while still trying to preserve memories of her childhood in Asia brought up questions about identity that influence her work. The concept of travel and memory are also embedded in her current series of mixed media paintings – layered earthy, dark colored background with graphite drawn trees and foliage and an overlay of concrete. Lecture: January 29, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Wilson Hall Auditorium. Opening Reception: January 29 5:30 – 7 pm
Jacob Landau (1917-2001), printmaker, painter, humanist, and teacher was an artist whose works explored the basic themes of human existence and morality with an insight that was both passionate and indignant. The art he created gained him an impressive reputation, with many of his works included in the permanent collections of the world’s finest museums. In 2008, the Jacob Landau Institute donated more than 300 of the artist’s prints, drawings and paintings to Monmouth University. This exhibition will feature approximately 20 original paintings.
Heeseop Yoon studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and received her MFA from City University of New York and BFA from Chung-Ang University in Korea. Yoon’s subjects—interiors of junk shops and storage facilities—test the ability of the line to make order out chaos. Working from photographs, Yoon draws her subject matter freehand on sheets of transparent polyester film that are later attached to the gallery wall. She retains her exploratory sketches, her mistakes, and the corrections on each drawing. The lines not only situate the forms in the clutter, they also cross over, search out, and assess the entire scene. Illustrated Lecture: February 5, Wilson Hall Auditorium, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Opening Reception: February 5, from 5:30 – 7 pm
Long before Asbury Park became known for rock music, the city’s African American community rocked on Springwood Avenue. Between 1910 and 1970, the city’s West Side pioneered the sounds of jazz, gospel and rhythm & blues. This exhibit explores, chronicles and highlights Asbury Park’s black music scene from Count Basie to Billy Brown, through an impressive collection of rare photos and memorabilia. Opening Reception: February 4, from 6-8 pm
A former member of the Southern rock outfit Drive by Truckers, Jason Isbell’s solo career has seemed effortless, from Sirens of the Ditch (2007) to Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit (2009), through Here We Rest (2011) and last year’s Live From Alabama. He writes open -hearted songs full of storm and drama, bursting with personal truths, and echoing with the southern sound of his Alabama upbringing. Embracing his newfound sobriety, Isbell next produced an album of haunting atonement and redemption, the sparse and impressive Southeastern, which was a critical success and commercial breakthrough. Tickets on sale Friday, August 22 at 10 am.
There are few living musicians who can lay claim to being the voice of America’s conscience, and even fewer who continue to make vital music. For six decades Mavis Staples has been the solid rock of American music. Alongside the family group she is so identified with, the Staple Singers, Mavis has managed to transform herself as she goes, yet never alter.
