January 2014

Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, Features Works by Edward J Bisese & Holly Hanessian

Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, will present two new exhibits including: Edward J Bisese: Good Thoughts Better, on view in the Permanent Gallery at the Fine Art Museum, located in the Fine & Performing Arts Center, from Jan. 16 through Mar. 31, 2014. An Art Talk will be offered on Jan. 16, at 5pm in BAC 130, followed by a reception in the FAM Star Atrium from 6-7pm. The exhibit, Touch in Real Time: Holly Hanessian, will be on view in the Drawing Gallery, from Jan. 27 through Apr. 4, 2014. An Art Talk will be given on Feb. 20, at 5pm in BAC 130, with a reception to follow from 6-7pm in the FAM Star Atrium.

Celebrating beauty, the grotesque, altered realities and real events, Ed Bisese visits us with his oddly vibrant paintings, drawings, and assorted objects. Here you’ll find Hawaiian Kings and Hula Dancers, Bunnymen, three-armed migrant workers, dream sequences, and acutely observed portraiture. Bisese paints and draws on unstrectched canvas, wood panels of various shapes, paper, vinyl records, and postcards. On occasion, these images will assume a three-dimensional form, full of exaggerated scale, dream-like expression, and unique sensibilities.

Holly Hanessian collects handshakes from across the country. Each handshake contains a wet piece of clay, imprinting each participant’s hand with the artist’s. They hold each other for 15-20 seconds, the time it takes for the bonding hormone, oxytocin to be released into our bodies. Hanessian studied the effect of the handshake alongside Dr. Greg Siegle at the University of Pittsburgh TREND (The Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience, and Development).

The results of Hanessian’s ongoing exploration into the intersection of art, emotion and neuroscience culminate in a series of exhibitions that serve as much of a sensory experience as the handshake itself. Her installation, Touch in Real Time, incorporates dozens of handshakes from across the country, artifacts of the moment, that leave the viewer in a constellation of shared experience.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 828/227-3591 or visit (http://www.wcu.edu/museum/).

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