This summer, the Currier Museum of Art, in Manchester, N.H., will feature a new site-specific installation by Cristi Rinklin, associate professor of visual arts at the College of the Holy Cross.
Opening June 9, Rinklin’s exhibition, “Diluvial,” is part of the museum’s “Contemporary Connections” series and was inspired by its architecture and collection of 19th-century American landscape paintings.
The title, “Diluvial,” refers to geological deposits in the landscape that were thought to be the results of the Great Biblical Flood, which, through the mid-1800s, was believed to have shaped the American landscape, imbuing it with spiritual significance.
“Painters [of that era] depicted nature as a beautiful and terrifying force,” says Rinklin. “That’s what interests me—the forces of creation and destruction—and that’s what is woven into my work.”
Using a combination of hand-painting and digital techniques, Rinklin created an eight-panel window screen composition, filled with striking images of nature—mountains, waterfalls, clouds—in hues of blue, green and purple, that will be mounted on the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows in the museum’s Putnam Gallery. Scenic wallpaper and large-scale murals on the surrounding walls will complete the immersive installation.
“When light hits [the panels], they’ll look like they’re illuminated. It’ll feel ethereal,” says Rinklin, whose preliminary studies and sketches as well as initial hand-worked paintings will be on view in the museum’s Discovery Gallery.
Rinklin’s opening reception on August 2 will include a concert by renowned composer Shirish Korde, professor and chair of the music department at Holy Cross, who will perform an original composition inspired by her work.
Rinklin joined the College faculty in 2002, after earning her B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota. She exhibits internationally and, in 2010, was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship for drawing. Rinklin is represented by the Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston.
Running through Sept. 9, “Diluvial” is sponsored by Bank of New Hampshire and supported by the Gloria Wilcher Exhibition Fund and two grants from Holy Cross—a Faculty Research and Publication grant and a grant from the College’s Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. Additional support is provided by ICL Imaging.
The Currier’s “Contemporary Connections” series features new work by early- and mid-career artists from New England, made in direct response to the Currier’s collection and architecture. These projects offer visitors expanded perspectives on contemporary art making and invite them to experience dynamic linkages between past and present art practices and cultural history.
For museum hours and other information, visit www.currier.org or call 603-669-6144 x108.
By Kimberly Staley
Media Coverage:
- Concord Monitor, July 26: Artful yoga
- The Boston Globe, July 17: Contemporary painters bring dynamism, drama to N.E. landscapes
- Art Daily, July 1: Contemporary Connections: Cristi Rinklin on view at the Currier Museum of Art
