To celebrate the work of abstract expressionist artist Robert Motherwell, the artwork of three Northwestern students will soon be displayed in the window of the Urban Outfitters store at 921 Church Street.
An exhibition of Motherwell’s work is the Block Museum of Art’s main gallery show for the fall. The museum is co-sponsoring a contest with Urban Outfitters to see which NU student can create the best work of art inspired by the artist’s work. The deadline for entries is Nov. 9, and the three winning works will be displayed later this month in the store window for two weeks.
Block Museum Communications Manager Burke Patten helped organize the competition. He said the contest is the first of its kind for the Block Museum.
“The competition is another way for the Block Museum to engage with students at NU,” Patten said.
The idea was initially formed when Block Museum Public Relations Aid Allie Gross was passing out fliers to businesses in Evanston, advertising the Motherwell exhibit. She said the Urban Outfitters manager told her that as a chain store, they could not display a flier advertising the exhibit. But the manager mentioned the store has an art window which displays the work of local artists.
“We thought it would be cool to use the window for students,” said Gross, a Medill senior. “It is cool for (Urban Outfitters) to be a little more connected to the NU campus.”
Because the store is located close to NU, Urban Outfitters employees said it seems appropriate to display students’ artwork in their window. Employees said they are not permitted to provide their names because of corporate policy.
“Urban Outfitters is a retailer in touch with art and culture,” one employee said.
The competition is open to NU students of all academic majors. Students can submit artwork of any medium, including video, so long as the work is “displayable,” Patten said. He added that the “Motherwell inspiration” aspect of the competition is subject to the interpretation of the artist.
“(Motherwell’s work) lends itself to this competition (because) as an abstract expressionist, he leaves room for a wide variety of responses,” Patten said.
The Motherwell exhibit at the Block Museum, “An Attitude toward Reality,” will be on display through Dec. 6. The travelling exhibit was organized by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and consists of more than 40 drawings, collages, prints and paintings, according to the Block Museum Web site.
The winning contest entries will be chosen by a panel of three judges: an NU professor of Art Theory and Practice, a graduate of the NU Masters in Fine Arts program and a representative from Urban Outfitters, Patten said. The winners will be notified by e-mail Nov. 13.
Gross said she hopes the competition will bring students to the Block Museum to see the exhibit for inspiration, and that students from all across the University will try their hand at the competition.
“I hope students at least come by and get inspired,” Gross said. “The cool thing is you don’t need to be an art major. Motherwell was so abstract and such a visionary. He didn’t care about pretty pictures, he cared about expressing emotion.”[email protected]
