SATIRE, SCANDAL, AND SPECTACLE: THE ART OF GEORGE SCHMIDT

The paintings and drawings of a New Orleans artist. George Schmidt was born in New Orleans on November 14, 1944 at the Touro Infirmary. His earliest drawing was at the age of three in his parent's receipt book at the Lauralee Guest House on St. Charles Avenue. George imitated the stick men, known as Dixie Doodles, from the Dixie Beer ad campaign of the time, which proved to his doting mother, Josephine, that her little boy was a child prodigy.

Schmidt is an oxymoron typical of the City of New Orleans - a creative reactionary. George's anti-modernism is best expressed by Leon Alberti in the 15th century treatise, On Painting; "Painting exists in order that the dead should live again and the distant brought near." George maintained his rigorous classical style in interpreting New Orleans and her history in a number of major canvases depicting, "A History of Jazz" with their accompanying studies, which was exhibited along with the studies, in a one man show at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and now to be seen at Generations Hall, "A History of Carnival", painted for the Inter-Continetal Hotel in New Orleans and numerous canvases illustrating scenes from the City's artistic past. George was the first artist in residence at the Louisiana World Exposition in 1984. In 1999, he was invited to exhibit his drawing of "Nick LaRocca at the Corner of Canal and Royal Streets,1915", and a painting of "The Arrest of Louis Armstrong" at the Biennale in Florence, Italy.

George's masterfully drawn and richly painted works are represented in numerous public and private collections in the United States, Europe and Asia. He has been extensively profiled in film, television, print interviews and documentaries that have been released throughout the world. Recently George was featured on 'The American Experience' on PBS and other national media post Hurricane Katrina and has been featured on National Public Radio and in Louisiana Cultral Vistas, Offbeat and InConcert magazines.

HILLIARD MUSEUM COLLECTION SHOWCASED

On view are two exhibitions drawn from the Hilliard's collection. Over the past four decades the University's Art Museum has established through the generous gifts from local patrons and Alumni a wonderful collection of American and European painting. These exhibitions will highlight significant works in the collection and lesser known works.

The exhibition of American and European Painting presents the work of John Casilear, Arthur Dove, John McCrady, Granville Perkins, Arthur Davies, Everett Shinn, Henry Hutchinson Shaw, Jules Charles Rozier, Henri Eugene Le Sidaner, Henri Manguin, Pierre August Renoir, Pierre Bonnard, Jean Dufy, Camille Corot, Adolphe J. T. Monticelli, Jean Joseph Vaudechamp, Julius Caesar Ibbetson, John Wesley Jarvis, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Alessandro Varotari among others.

Modern and Contemporary art is a rapidly growing aspect of the museum's permanent collection. This exhibition features the work of artists with roots in Louisiana who have made significant contributions to the American Art scene in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The exhibition presents the work of Edward Pramuk, Margaret Evangeline, Robert Rauschenberg, William Moreland, Ida Kohlmeyer, Clyde Connell, John Hathorn, Lynda Dautreuil, Mark Grote, and new acquisitions by Cora Kelley Ward.

UROS HOUSE

Uros House, a site-specific, lighting sculpture installation by artist Grimanesa Amorós, will be on view at the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum from August 6th through the summer of 2012. Recently shown in Times Square, the sculpture was presented as part of the 2011 Armory Show along with three other artists: Tom Otterness, David Kennedy Cutler, and Niki de Saint Phalle. Amorós was also invited to show at the 2011 Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy.

Uros House, made of polyethylene, steel, metal and computer controlled LEDS, was inspired by structures built by the Uros Indians in Peru. The pre-Incan Uros, who live on forty-two self-fashioned floating islands in Lake Titicaca, build everything out of totora reeds, a sub species of the giant bulrush sedge. According to Amorós, who was born and raised in Peru, the Uros House sculpture “will embody the beauty of sea foam, while maintaining the traditional technique and shape of the Uros islands houses. The structure will seemingly arise from the ground as if it were one with the earth.”

Grimanesa Amorós is an interdisciplinary artist with diverse interests in the fields of social history, scientific research and critical theory, which have greatly influenced her work. She often makes use of sculpture, video, and lighting to create works that illuminate our notions of personal identity and community. Amorós was born in Lima, Peru but lives and works in New York City.