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BELLINGHAM – The kinds of houses they build help us to understand birds and their relationships to habitat and community. An exhibit opening at the Western Gallery on Jan.10 delivers a powerful parallel. “Birds of All Feathers” will feature three simultaneous exhibitions that “depict the visual and poetic power of our feathered friends,” said gallery director Sarah Clark-Langager. The show includes a collection of artist-created birdhouses entitled “It’s for the Birds,” as well as Linda Mary Beech’s “Big Crow” and “Incarnation Series” by Susan Bozic. “It’s for the Birds” presents birdhouses designed with purpose and formed with matter both natural and contrived. While birds build their homes to meet their limited needs using material natural to their environment, artists such as Robert Huff, Helene Brandt and Hugo Moro create birdhouses that reflect humanity’s greater reach, with materials appropriated from sources both natural and man-made. Vincent Casari built a “Levittown” of six identical houses, distinguished one from the other with coverings of sheepskin, camouflage, and faux leopard skin. Using his birdhouse as social commentary, Bill Stewart’s “Snowbird” – a rooster on wheels – reflects the human habit of travelers to roost anywhere when we hunger. Linda Mary Beech’s “Big Crow” is exactly that: a massive feral form crouched to fit within a human space, underscoring the artist’s message of an “uneasy border” between urban and natural environments. The crow’s towering presence evokes questions of co-habitation, ownership and territory. In the “Incarnation” series, Susan Bozic has placed taxidermied birds in theatrical settings. With extensive experience staging photographs in a tableau format, ranging from Dutch still life to 1950’s studio portraiture to natural history dioramas, Bozic is able to create her own connections between time, nature and humanity. Her birds are set against idealized versions of nature – often exquisite, antique objects. Bozic’s “Incarnation” series is supported by a Canada Council grant. The “Birds of All Feathers” exhibit runs through March 12. The Western Gallery is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Wednesday when the gallery is open until 8 p.m., and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The Western Gallery will be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 17 as well as for President’s Day on Monday, Feb. 21. For more information about the exhibit or Western Gallery, please contact Sarah Clark-Langager at (360) 650-3963 or Sarah.ClarkLangager@wwu.edu or visit the gallery’s Web site, at http://westerngallery.wwu.edu/. For a parking permit or information, please stop at the south campus Visitor Center, open from 7:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. There is a $2 hourly charge for parking from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. No permit is required in (south campus) gravel C lots between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. weekdays, or on weekends. There is a $1 an hour charge for parking after 5 p.m. and on weekends in designated lots, which have blue machines that accept cash, coins, or credit/debit cards. There is no additional charge in these lots for those displaying a valid parking pass or a Viking XPress bus pass, with the exception of lot 6V (Viking Union) where payment is required at all times. Parking meters at various campus locations cost $2 an hour, 24 hours/7 days. |
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