Saturday, February 24, through Sunday, May 20
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
A St. Ambrose University professor whose works can be found in the art collections of Yale Art Library, Ringling College of Art & Design, and the University of Dallas, Joseph Lappie will find his talents showcased locally in the Figge Art Museum exhibit Personbal Mythologies, on display from February 24 through May 20.
Lappie, an associate professor of art at St. Ambrose, is a graduate of Columbia College in Chicago and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Throughout his career, he has worked with lithography, etching, letterpress, woodblock printing, painting, and book arts. Beginning about 10 years ago, though, Lappie began to shift traditional notions of printmaking, wherein the print is considered the artistic product, by creating installations of the carved wood blocks used to create prints. His latest exhibition includes three substantial bodies of work in this mode, and by including a variety of Lappie’s work, will highlight his range as a printmaker and an artist.
Joseph Lappie: Personal Mythologies encompasses more than a decade of the artist’s work. Myths, gods, and people mingle in skillfully carved woodblocks, artist’s books, and prints. The figures crouch and contort, transform into beasts, and look out at the viewer with raw emotion, and Lappie’s expressive, haunting imagery reflects the human psyche as well as the cultural environment that shapes us. He references shared narratives passed down through centuries, including the Nuremberg Chronicle and stories of trickster gods Anansi and Loki, and by engaging universal allegories and his own experiences, Lappie provokes viewers to consider the relationship between our private realities and the outside world.
An opening reception for Joseph Lappie: Personal Mythologies will be held at 5:30 p.m. on March 1, with Lappie giving an Artist Talk at 6:30 p.m., and regular museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays) and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For more information on this and other Figge exhibits, programs, and events, call (563)326-7804 or visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.
