As part of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics’ (SCGP) 10th anniversary, a special exhibition that includes 70 works by world-renowned Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) will be on view at the Simons Center Gallery from October 11 through November 19, 2021. The exhibition is curated by Simons Center Art Director and Curator Lorraine Walsh.
“We are delighted to host a M.C. Escher exhibition with his paradoxical constructions and mathematically inspired art,” said Walsh. “His fantastical work inspired by plane divisions and hyperbolic geometry is a perfect fit for the Simons Center and Stony Brook University. Equally fascinating is Escher’s lesser-known work in landscape and watercolor, which will also be on view in the gallery for all to enjoy.”
Walsh explained that the exhibit was inspired by a wonderful M.C. Escher show in Brooklyn that was on view from 2018-2019. She attended the exhibit several times and was introduced to the art collector Rock Walker, who was most enthusiastic about having an Escher mini-retrospective at Stony Brook University.
M.C. Escher crafted an extraordinary graphical language inspired by mathematics, puzzles and patterns. His art explores mathematical operations and ideas expressed in infinity, symmetry, geometry, tessellated surfaces, improbable architectural perspectives and more.
In addition to featuring Escher’s iconic prints such as Relativity, the Simons Center Gallery will host some of his lesser-known early work focusing on nature and landscape, many of which bear the harbinger of mathematical forms and morphing shapes seen in later work.
Escher was a consummate printmaker; a master craftsperson. He used three different, albeit related, print techniques: 1) relief printing: woodcut, linocut and wood engraving, 2) intaglio printing: etching and mezzotint, and 3) planographic printmaking: lithograph. All three print methods utilized by Escher are showcased at the Simons Center Gallery.
According to most accounts, Escher made his first print when he was 17 years old, and his last when he was 71. During his lifetime, he created 448 prints and more than 2000 drawings and sketches, including watercolors.
Reservations are required; reserve your timed visit.
For those of us who support the university from outside campus, activities such as this are inconveniently timed to the normal workday. As much as I’d like to go, the viewing times conflict with business activity for those like me who can’t make their own hours. I hope you get SRO crowds. I’m sorry I won’t be among them.
Is this for students only? The hours of 10-5, Monday-Friday lead me to believe the general public are not welcome.
I do see on the Simons Center page it says “The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics Art and Science Program at Stony Brook University is an ambitious outreach program connecting artists, scientists, and the community at large.” The community at large would appreciate maybe some evening or weekend hours.