Center Gallery Presents Exhibition on Captivity

"Testimony" by Kara Walker

Fordham University’s Center Gallery kicks off the academic year with a two-part group exhibition on the theme of captivity.

“The Art of Captivity: Part One,” curated by Leonard Cassuto, Ph.D., professor of English, is on display from Sept. 22 to Oct. 28, in the Center Gallery, on the first floor of Lowenstein Center on the Lincoln Center campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

An opening reception will take place on Oct. 5, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion with the artists.

The exhibition features work by seven contemporary artists chosen by Cassuto for their approaches to the theme of captivity: Paul Karasik, Fernando Molero, Alyssa Pheobus, Anne Sherwood Pundyk, Peter Scott, Kara Walker and Karen Yama.

Using range of media, the works depict a variety of struggles set on different stages: physical, psychological, cognitive, sexual, racial and political.

This exhibition dovetails with Cassuto’s classes, “The Art of Captivity” and “Captivity and Conflict,” offered through the English Department at Fordham. His students respond to different depictions of captivity in poetry, fiction, and memoir by writers such as Art Spiegelman, Sylvia Plath and Oliver Sacks.

Selected writings from students inspired by the exhibition will be available to those visiting the exhibition. A catalogue of the exhibition featuring essays by Leonard Cassuto, Susan Eley and Anne Sherwood Pundyk and Casey Ruble will be available online and in print.

"The Art of Captivity: Part Two,” curated by Susan Eley, will be on display from Oct. 26 to Dec. 3, at Susan Eley Fine Art, 46 West 90th St., on the second floor. For more information on this part of the exhibition, call (917) 952-7641.

For information about the exhibition at Fordham, call (212) 636-7461.

—Gina Vergel