Art of Engagement: Tales from a New York Art Dealer

The question is often asked why some art is more important, more relevant, than the average decorative or handmade object. Why isn’t everything of equal value?
For 30 years, Douglas Walla has had the pleasure of working with a number of thrilling and thought provoking artists and situations which address the architecture of amnesia, issues of “conscience”, emotionally urgent subject matter (both personal as well as public in origin) and obsessive, compulsive personal undertakings. Mr. Walla will touch upon several past projects to illuminate the possibilities.

While undertaking studies at the University, he worked in various capacities in the local community, first assisting the painters B.J. McCoon and Rollin Pickford, later apprenticeships with the Hans Sumpf Company constructing large scale architectural reliefs and as a preparatory for the Fresno Arts Center. From 1973 to 1976, Mr. Walla was curator of the Fresno Arts Center organizing three exhibitions and publications entitled Masterworks of Modern Sculpture, 200 Years of American Painting, and the first retrospective for Alex Katz. At the time of his enrollment in the Master’s Degree Program in Fine Art, he also was given one man shows at the Monterey Museum of Art, the Fresno Arts Center with Rollin Pickford, and a graduate installation at the University.

In 1976, Mr. Walla relocated to New York City where he would become the Vice-President of Marlborough Gallery and coordinated the exhibitions and activities for Francis Bacon, Larry Rivers, Alex Katz, Red Grooms and the Estates of Jacques Lipchitz and Barbara Hepworth. With the departure from Marlborough in 1985, Mr. Walla founded a new gallery on the corner of Madison and 57th Street named Kent Fine Art, Inc. The new entity would publish over 40 scholarly books, and organize over 200 exhibitions worldwide. Representing the surrealists Dorothea Tanning and Meret Oppenheim, the Estate of Herbert Bayer (Bauhaus), to the larger group of mid-career conceptual artists of conscience, Dennis Adams, Chris Burden, Llyn Foulkes, Antoni Muntadas, the gallery would provide support, and coordination on all projects.

Recent activities include the recent Venice Blennale project by Emily Prince entitled American Servicemen and Women Who Have Died in Iraq and Afghanistan (but Not Including the Wounded, nor the Iraqis nor the Afghans) which documents over 3900 casualties in drawing form which has been favorably reviewed by The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, and New York magazine along with numerous European journals.

This project is viewable online at www.alltheamericanservicemenandwomen.com and the gallery archive may be accessed through www.kentgallery.com.

by Douglas Walla
B.A. Art 1973, M.A. Art 1974
Founder, Kent Gallery

Letters from Um el-Dunya: Journeys Through Modern Egypt

November 15, 2007: 3:00 PM

Alice Peters Auditorium

Letters from Um el-Dunya: Journeys through Modern Egypt and
Presentation of Imagery from a Recent Visit to Egypt
by
Dr. Sameh El Kharbawy, Assoc. Prof. of Art and Design
and
Bill Minschew, Professor Emeritus of Art

Beyond romantic visions of ancient monuments, awe-inspiring pyramids, turquoise beaches, majestic minarets and desert sunsets, this Portrait reveals one of the greatest places of the modern imagination, and tells the story of its extraordinary and cosmopolitan people.

Drawing on observations and friendships past and present, a narrative is weaved around a collection of letters and poems that Dr. El Kharbawy has received, for over ten years, from "Um el-Dunya". In those letters, there is a fascinating study of a uniquely modern place, and a special window onto its majestic and fascinating capital, Cairo , revealing the grandeur of its art and architecture, the beauty of its poetry, its multi-layered complexity and centuries of historical change and upheaval.

In those letters, a broader appreciation of the intricate textures of the modern Middle East emerges.

Bill Minschew, internationally renowned artist and Professor Emeritus of Art, will showcase and speak about his latest work that is a contemporary integration of ancient Egypt inspired by a recent visit there.

Forgotten Bread: First-Generation Armenian American Writers

Wednesday, November 14, 2007: 7:30 PM

The California State University, Fresno
College of Arts and Humanities
Armenian Studies Program
Department of English
Armenian Students Organization
and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (Greater Fresno) present:

Author David Kherdian discussing his new anthology

Forgotten Bread: First-Generation Armenian American Writers an anthology of 17 first-generation writers

This outstanding collection of literature from seventeen first-generation Armenian American authors, each introduced by a member of the second generation, is intense, magical, and filled with the love of life. It is also characterized by the unspeakable sadness that accompanies the loss of many of their countrymen and women in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917. What coalesces is a deeply American story about the forces that propel individuals forward in a new world.

Copies of Forgotten Bread will be available for purchase at the lecture.



Student Recreation Center
Leon and Pete Peters Educational Center Auditorium
NE corner of Shaw and Woodrow Aves. * Fresno State campus
Call the ASP at 559-278-2669 for more information.

Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Armenian Studies Program
5245 N Backer Ave PB4
Fresno , CA 93740-8001

Email: barlowd@csufresno.edu

ASP Office: 559-278-2669
Office: 559-278-4930
FAX: 559-278-2129

Visit the Armenian Studies Program Web Page at
http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/

Fresno State Gospel Choir

December 16, 2007: 4:00PM
Concert Hall
$7.00: General

Fresno State Symphony Orchestra

Featuring new faculty member Dr. Thomas Loewenheim as conductor

December 10, 2007: 7:30PM
Concert Hall
$6.00: General; $5.00: Faculty/Staff/Seniors/Students