McDonough Museum opens four new exhibits
Large-scale silver gelatin skiagrams are among the works featured in four exhibits at the McDonough Museum of Art on the campus of Youngstown State University Feb. 26 through April 2.
The exhibitions will display the installation work of artist Zac Benson, the figurative realistic paintings of Akron artist Max Markwald and the skiagrams of Amy Theiss Geise, as well as the painting of Emerging Artist James Shawn Crum of Youngstown.
The shows will be on view in the galleries Feb. 26 through April 2. Face coverings and social distancing are required in the museum. There is a capacity limit of seven per gallery. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
The McDonough will also present virtual lectures by the artists on the following schedule:
Monday, March 1, 6 p.m., James Shawn Crum
McDonough YouTube Channel
Wednesday, March 10, 10 a.m., Amy Theiss Giese, Zoom (link will be posted on the museum website and social media pages).
Tuesday, March 16, 12:30 p.m., Max Markwald
McDonough YouTube Channel
Tuesday, March 23, 9 a.m., Zac Benson
McDonough YouTube Channel
Benson's work ranges from installation and sculpture to performance art and has been shown in Taiwan, Bulgaria and throughout the United States. Benson is an assistant professor of Studio Art at Anderson University, where he teaches sculpture and ceramics.
The exhibit by the museum’s Emerging Visual Artist, James Shawn Crum, is titled “Our Blood-soaked Land Is Haunted by My Muses,” which explores the very real possibility that as a gay black male, Crum exists within several realities.
Max Markwald’s exhibition, titled “Skin,” fragments the human form, creating obscured portraits that seem to be hiding in full view. As part of the museum’s Scribe literary collaborative, the exhibition is accompanied by journals created by YSU students and community members. The booklets will contain written and visual art inspired by themes presented in the artist’s work. Students in Professor Dana Sperry's digital media class will also create works that will be featured on Instagram.
Giese’s large-scale, silver gelatin skiagrams (Greek for "shadows written") are featured in his exhibit titled “The Absence of Light Within These Walls.” The project is an exploration of how the inherent properties of darkroom paper capture and hold elements of a specific time, place, and moment. Giese is currently the director and lead faculty at the New Hampshire Institute of Art.