From luminous landscapes to linocuts that pulsate with energy, the works of five practicing artists come together in Visual Union: The Decades Show, an exhibition that celebrates the newly renovated and expanded Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts.
Featuring alumni from 1973 to 2013, the exhibition opens Jan. 12 with a reception and performance, beginning at 5 p.m., in the center’s Crowell and West Galleries.
“This exhibition is a living history of the past, present and future of the visual arts at Union,” says David Ogawa, Visual Arts Department chair.
“Though the artists work in diverse fields and are at different stages of their careers, their work reveals the continuities that have informed the department’s teaching since its inception. Whether within tradition or at the cutting edge, they all represent the liberal arts ideal by addressing the eye, the mind and the heart.”
The Decades Show runs through March 31. Here, a closer look at the artists and their oeuvre:
Stephen Pentak ’73: Pentak’s landscapes revel in the play between the painted surface and natural spaces. Pentak studied with Arnold and Dolores Bittleman, the artists who brought studio art to Union in the mid-1960s. He holds an MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and is professor emeritus of art at Ohio State University. He lives and paints in his home and studio on the Rensselaer Plateau and Kinderhook Creek in upstate New York.
Jack Howard-Potter ’97: Potter’s large-scale steel sculptures are inspired by sources ranging from ancient sculpture to contemporary fantasy worlds. Potter studied sculpture with Chris Duncan, who arrived at Union in 1988 as the first full-time sculpture faculty member. Howard-Potter grew up in New York City, where he was inspired by the public sculpture of Alexander Calder, George Rickey, dance works and performances. A resident of the city, he is a board member of the Elisa Monte Dance Company, and he draws inspiration from the dancers.
Nori Lupfer Pepe ’03: Pepe combines linocut, collagraph and solar plate etching techniques. She studied printmaking techniques with Sandra Wimer, who came to Union in 1990 and brought the printmaking program to fruition. Pepe has worked as a circus performer, aerial photographer and member of the U. S. Freestyle Ski Team. In addition to her art, she works for the Killington Mountain School in Vermont.
Nancy Borowick ’07: Borowick, a graduate of the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography in New York, studied photography with Martin Benjamin, who arrived at Union in 1979 and has developed the College’s robust photography program. Borowick’s Cancer Family series, which documents her parents’ parallel treatments for stage-four cancer, was the subject of multiple pieces in the New York Times and has received international acclaim. Borowick, who currently resides in Guam, is a regular contributor to the New York Times, Newsday and Corbis.
Sheri Park ’13: Park studied painting with Walter Hatke, who taught at Union from 1987 until his retirement in 2015. She also worked with Fernando Orellana, who launched Union’s digital art program in 2006. Park’s first love was painting, and with an interest in interdisciplinary art forms, she also focused on performance, video/projection and collage construction. Her performance piece, WEAR & TEAR, was shown at venues across California’s Bay Area. She recently presented a new iteration of As I Am, Changing (originally her senior thesis) in Tokyo. She holds a Certificate in Theology and the Arts from the Fuller Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif.