Art Exhibit explores complexities in South Africa

The De Pree Art Center and Gallery is hosting the traveling exhibition “Between the Shadow and the Light: An Exhibition Out of South Africa” now until Thursday, Feb. 9. Additional events are scheduled on Friday, Feb. 3, at the De Pree Art Center and Gallery, which include a curator’s talk, artist’s talk and closing reception. Admission to the exhibition and related events are free to the public.

The curator’s talk is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3, at 3 p.m. and will be delivered by Jo-Ann VanReeuwyk, a fiber artist and associate professor of art and art history at Calvin College. VanReeuwyk has found numerous success in her field, being featured in galleries in Washing- ton, British Columbia, Montana and Michigan. She describes her work: “Just as our personalities are multi-dimensional, and just as we need to peel away layers to discover the true essence of someone or something, these pieces reflect complexity.”

The artist’s talk will follow the curator’s talk on Friday, Feb. 3, at 4 p.m. and will be presented by Margaret Allotey-Pappoe, the department chair of Art & De- sign and assistant professor of graphic design at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Afterwards, the closing reception will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, beginning and 5 p.m. and running until roughly 6:30 p.m. The reception will also feature a display of posters depicting students’ experiences while participating in Hope College’s South Africa May Term led by Dede Johnston, a professor of communication.

The exhibition “Between the Shadow and the Light: An Exhibition Out of South Africa” features works created by 21 Christian artists from various countries, including the United States, Canada, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The artists found inspiration for their pieces by spending two weeks together in South Africa at an intensive seminar in June of 2013.

This group of artists also included Katherine Sullivan, who is a professor of art and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Hope. The intensive seminar she and other artists attended was designed to introduce them to the many social, economic and political complexities in the region. Following the program, an exhibition was created, which includes nearly 40 works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, installation and video, using a range of styles and approaches to explore those issues raised throughout the seminar.

“Between the Shadow and the Light: An Exhibition Out of South Africa” is co-sponsored by the Lilly Fellows Program for Humanities and the Arts, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and the Na- gel Institute of Calvin College, with major support from Walter and Darlene Hansen, the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship and the Joan L. and Robert C. Gilkison Family Foundation.

The De Pree Art Center and Gallery is located at 275 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets. The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays it is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Be sure to check it out.