NEPA Scene Staff

43 artists display fragile cast iron artwork at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre June 2-July 2

43 artists display fragile cast iron artwork at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre June 2-July 2
Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

From a press release:

The Sordoni Art Gallery at Wilkes University presents “Solid Gone,” an exhibition of cast iron art, from Saturday, June 2 through Monday, July 2.

The exhibit features 43 artists from around the world who push the limits of the medium. It is curated by Ben Woodeson, a British artist known for challenging – and sometimes dangerous – works.

“Solid Gone” brings together a diverse group of fragile, ephemeral, or precarious works that use cast iron in conjunction with the eighth annual International Conference of Contemporary Cast Iron Art occurring May 28 through June 2 in Scranton. The conference, with a theme of post-industrial iron, honors and celebrates the works of professionals, scholars, and students from around the world.

During the conference, the Sordoni Art Gallery (141 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre) is hosting a cast iron symposium on Saturday, June 2 at 10 a.m. Jane Cook, chief scientist of the Corning Museum of Glass, will moderate a technical panel discussion. Woodeson will also conduct a curator’s talk about the exhibition. The symposium is free and open to the public.

Concentrating on the moment of exhibition, rather than posterity or potential longevity and collectability, Woodeson comments that he’s allergic to inert and boring lumps of metal. Challenging, fragile, and temporary works are widespread within the non-cast iron art world, so this exhibition and catalog contemplates: “Are there high-quality impermanent, fragile, and precarious object-based artworks being made within the iron casting community that are simply not being seen?”

The $3 million, 7,000-square-foot Sordoni Art Gallery is a culmination of a gallery revitalization plan to enrich the arts for students, faculty, and staff while contributing to cultural life in the local community. More than double the size of the former gallery, the new space opened in 2017 is outfitted for high-end national art exhibitions and includes versatile opportunities for teaching and learning. The gallery shares space with the Karambelas Media and Communication Center.

Wilkes University (84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre) is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional programs. Founded in 1933, the university is on a mission to create one of the great small universities, offering all of the programs, activities, and opportunities of a large research university in the intimate, caring, and mentoring environment of a small liberal arts college, at a cost that is increasingly competitive with public universities. The Economist named Wilkes 25th in the nation for the value of its education for graduates.

In addition to 47 bachelor’s degree programs, Wilkes offers 25 master’s degree programs and four doctoral/terminal degree programs, including the doctor of philosophy in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing.