Good Library Gallery to display “Christ-Kin: The Human Side of the Bible,” a present-day view of Scriptures

Exhibit: “Christ-Kin: The Human Side of the Bible” by graphic artist Dierdre Luzwick (Aug. 28-Oct. 13)
Reception date and time: Sept. 3, 2-4 p.m.
Location: The Good Library Gallery
Cost: Free
Event sponsor: The Department of Bible, Religion and Philosophy; the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program; the Plowshares Grant; and Harold and Wilma Good Library.
Web site: www.luzwickart.com

GOSHEN, Ind. – A graphic artist who is both a social critic and philosophic visionary, Dierdre Luzwick’s “Christ-Kin: The Human Side of the Bible” will be on display in the Good Library Gallery as the first exhibit of the 2006-07 Library Gallery series at Goshen College.

The works will be at the Good Library from Aug. 28 until Oct. 13. There will be a reception on Sept. 3, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Gallery.

“Christ-Kin” is a series of drawings based on New Testament events and the life of Christ. The drawings are often a present-day view of the Scriptures, as events are relocated to contemporary, slightly surreal landscapes and peopled with famous historical figures or even relatives and neighbors who Luzwick used as models.

When she first saw Luzwick’s works, Lisa Guedea Carreño, director of the Goshen College Good Library, thought they needed to be on display and has curated the exhibit herself. “Her style is very intense. I thought it looked like an Orwellian vision meets a Rockwell painting,” Carreño said. If reception is positive, Carreño hopes to contact some Mennonite presses about the possibility of publishing “Christ-Kin,” something that Luzwick had tried for 10 years to happen.

Kevin Lynch of “The Madison Times” says, “[Luzwick’s] style has a remarkable fluency, suggesting a monochromatic watercolorist and a Dickensian knack for tale-spinning detail. Her striking control of dramatic light-and-dark contrasts is almost film noir cinematic.” Bill Moore of “The Wisconsin State Journal” has said, “As an artist she is at once a prophet of doom and an oracle of hope.”

Luzwick’s two published series include “Endangered Species: Portraits of a Dying Millennium” in 1992, and “The Surrealist’s Bible” in 1976. Her works have been displayed in private collections as well as galleries and museums in Wisconsin, though she has not had an exhibit since the late 1990s, due to declining health.

Luzwick was born and raised in Chicago in the 1940s. Originally a philosophy major at Ripon College in Wisconsin, she left during her second year and began drawing as a form of relaxation therapy. She is largely self-taught and has been drawing professionally for the past 25 years. Luzwick currently lives in Cambridge, Wis.

This exhibit is sponsored by the Goshen College Bible, Religion and Philosophy Department; the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program; the Plowshares Grant; and the Harold and Wilma Good Library.

The Library Gallery, located on the lower level of the Harold and Wilma Good Library on the campus of Goshen College, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 11 p.m. Sunday.

Future exhibits in the Library Gallery:

·    Oct. 22-Dec. 8, Three Quilt Artists. Innovative quilts designed by area artists Jon Cutrell, Sibyl Graber Gerig and Joy Yoder Hess. Sponsored by the Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee. Opening reception Sunday, Oct. 22, 2-4 p.m.

·    Jan. 15-March 2, Preston Jackson: Fresh from Julieanne’s Garden. Bronze castings and two-dimensional images portray majestic heroines of the southern U.S. from the 17th through the early 20th centuries. Preston Jackson, professor of sculpture and head of the figurative area at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, seeks to preserve cultural history and explicate attitudes in the African American community in this collection. Personal narratives that accompany the sculptures and portraits are drawn from historical research and family memoirs. Sponsored by the Multicultural Affairs Office, the Plowshares Grant and Harold and Wilma Good Library. Artist’s reception and Black History Month celebration Sunday, Feb. 4, 2-4 p.m.

·    March 11-July 13, Hutterite Life. Clothing, implements, folk arts, manuscripts and photographs depicting the culture of the Hutterites, an Anabaptist-related communal group living in the western U.S. and Canada. Prepared and interpreted by Leonard Gross, Jan Gleysteen and Faye Peterson. Sponsored by the Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee and dedicated to the memory of Beulah Hostetler (1926-2005). Opening reception Sunday, March 11, 2-4 p.m.

– By Megan Blank

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.