News

Seen on Campus: Rodin’s Jean d’Aire

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February 14th, 2019

Seen on Campus: Rodin's Jean d'Aire
As I progress through my final days as a student at Davidson, I am acutely aware of the most remarkable parts of being a student here. Among the things I’ll miss the most, my daily walk past Auguste Rodin’s sculpture of Jean d’Aire ranks high. Rodin’s sculpture entered the Davidson collection in 1993 on a generous gift of the Pepper Family. However, the story of our Jean d’Aire goes back to the 14th century. As the story goes, during the Hundred Years’ War, King Edward III of England besieged the French city of Calais. Months later and after near starvation,...
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Seen on Campus: Spirit Waves Fountain

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February 6th, 2019

If you’ve ever given or asked someone for directions to the Sloan Music Center, you’ve probably heard of the Spirit Waves Fountain sculpture, more commonly known by students as “the French fry sculpture.” Here we would like to note that, as artist Aristides Demetrios reminds, "you only nickname a person you're acquainted with." That is, here at Davidson, we have become acquainted with Spirit Waves, and have made it our own by nature of its new, affectionate nickname--we acknowledge the sculpture's belonging to our campus and have integrated it into our culture. Spirit Waves Fountain was a gift to Davidson College in 2003 from Dr....
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Seen in Storage: Favorites from the Collection

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January 22nd, 2019
Seen in Storage is a periodic blog post where students, staff, and professors identify some of their favorite works from our permanent art collection. Sometimes clever, sometimes funny, sometimes introspective, and always illuminating, these short posts shine a light on the variety of works that inhabit our beloved basement storage area, when not on view in the galleries or in academic buildings. The permanent art collection provides critical learning experiences to the Davidson community and we encourage you to make an appointment to see these works in person. This installment of Seen in Storage is brought to you by Helen Sturm '20....
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REVIEW: Shonibare’s ‘American Library’ at Davidson is uplifting art for perilous times

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December 3rd, 2018

Yinka Shonibare, The American Library, 2018
Although Yinka Shonibare deals with pressing global issues, his work is not dry. He wants viewers to engage on whatever level they choose, whether taking simple delight in his use of brilliantly patterned textiles or responding to the concerns he addresses. Shonibare’s room-size installation “The American Library” is on view at the Davidson College Art Galleries through Dec. 14. The project includes 6,000 books covered in vivid Dutch wax textiles; on the spines of 3,200 of these books are the names of first- and second-generation Americans — some famous, some not — who have benefited from immigration. Most have made...
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“Can this abstract sculpture spur Davidson students to wrestle with tough questions?” in the Charlotte Observer

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November 8th, 2018

Can this abstract sculpture spur Davidson students to wrestle with tough questions?
Written by Lisa Rab, arts correspondent for the Charlotte Observer. In his quest to capture the shape of wind, Yinka Shonibare started with a hair dryer and a piece of fabric. The British-Nigerian artist sees movement as a metaphor for the migration of people – immigrants, slaves, refugees. He wanted his fiberglass sculpture to convey that movement while appearing weightless, as if it were defying gravity. So he photographed the fabric billowing in the dryer’s artificial breeze. That photo became a mold, which he converted into a 3D image, and then a 3D print. That grew into a larger mold, stretching...
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