January 26, 2011
‘Resonance: Nature, Glass, and Standing Waves in the Art of Joe Davis opens at Jacob Lawrence Gallery
A 1/10 model of a proposed Davis sculpture, Call Me Ishmael, will be part of the show in the Lawrence gallery. The proposed sculpture would be a 106-foot memorial to victims of natural storms for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is designed as a triple-masted tower that passively converts natural lightning strikes into powerful laser discharges.
Resonance: Nature, Glass, and Standing Waves in the Art of Joe Davis, an exhibition at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, will feature works by Joe Davis, an artist-researcher in laboratories at both MIT and Harvard University.
Davis is a pioneer of “bioart”—art that explores biological materials, genetics, and broader questions of the nature of life. Davis research and art also includes works in areas of molecular biology, bioengineering and synthetic biology, “space art,” the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, next-generation lasers, radio science, microscopy and scientific instrumentation, as well as permanent public sculpture.
The exhibition will feature artworks involving genetics, electronics, alternative energy, lasers, radio science and black holes, as well as works in glass which Davis made in collaboration with glass artists while in residence at the Pilchuck Glass School last summer. To pursue his quest for answers to the riddle of life, space and time, Davis uses the broadest range of mediums imaginable, from the worlds largest radio telescopes to the smallest genetic materials, and almost everything in between.
Resonance: Nature, Glass, and Standing Waves in the Art of Joe Davis will be on display Feb 1-19. The opening reception will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb 1.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Joe Davis will also be giving a free artist lecture, Perché non parli? Paradox and Palimpsest in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 in 120 Kane.
The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is free and open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is located on the 1st floor of the School of Art Building.
