Assistant Professor of Art Benjamin Rinehart has been dedicated to the 2-D art department here at Lawrence for the past three years, and taking that into account, Prof. Rinehart has certainly earned his own art opening at Wriston.
Rinehart titled the exhibit, “PG,” referring to the film disclaimer, “Parental Guidance.” Rinehart explained that the title is “meant as a direct comparison of my upbringing to me as a parent.”
The title brings to mind images of Rinehart and his small, adorable son, Harper, together around campus. You might have passed by the enlarged photograph alongside the exterior of Wriston, in which Harper innocently dons a T-shirt claiming that he’s “hung like a 5-year-old.”
Gallery intern and art student Lynn Gilge furthers this parallel: “In class Ben always tells us to paint what you know and draw what you know … when I see Ben’s work, it’s all about relationships, with his mother, and father, and his partner.”
In a sense, Rinehart takes his own advice, dedicating his profession to the recreation of what he “knows” and loves.
The products of this sensitivity take the form of printmaking, painting, and book construction. Rinehart said that a number of his works “are meant to have physical interaction to change the image, as with the books, rotating ring, pop-up, and movables.”
He hopes that such interaction “challenges the viewer’s relationship with the work itself … illicit[ing] contemplation, questioning, resolution and understanding.”
Rinehart has exhibited his art nationally and internationally in both group and solo shows. He has published many articles and, in 2006, a book titled “Creating Books and Boxes.” In 2007, Rinehart coordinated a faculty show featuring his portfolio, “School Days: Cafeteria Plan.”
Rinehart is excited to once again exhibit at the art building, which he calls his “home base,” and to “share [his] work with the Lawrence and Appleton community.”
The event takes place this evening, Friday, Jan. 23, beginning with a lecture at 6 p.m. discussing his background, childhood, parenting, artistic process and the final images, all followed by a catered reception.
Rinehart exhibits work in Wriston
