Little, winner of the 2000 Acadia Arts Achievement Award, has authored several books on art, such as Edward Hopper’s New England (Pomegranate Communications, 1993) and The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent (University of California Press, 1999)

Little also writes for regional and national publications including Art New England and Art in America. He contributed an essay to the catalog for the exhibition Bernard Langlais: Independent Spirit at the Portland Museum of Art in 2002.

At Bates, Little will focus on Langlais’ current exhibition in the context of his greater oeuvre. The exhibition Medium and Abstraction, curated by Erin Gilligan ’09, focuses on a selection of Langlais sculptures from the 1950s and ’60s that show a particular influence of the New York avant-garde. The inclusion of wooden assemblages by Louise Nevelson and portraits of Langlais imply a larger context of influence for his work, which Little will discuss.

Langlais, born in Old Town, Maine, in 1921, embarked on an art career at a young age. His early work is predominantly paintings and collages. In 1956, Langlais and his wife bought a summer cottage in Cushing, Maine. While completing renovations, Langlais began experimenting with wood, and developed his self-proclaimed “painting in wood” technique. He is most famous for whimsical animal sculptures and tableaus created with a fusion of painting and wood carving.

Also featured in the museum are the exhibitions Landscape Drawings from the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection and Our Positive Bodies: Mapping Our Treatment, Sharing Our Choices. The Hartley exhibition showcases ink and graphite drawings by this famed artist born in Lewiston, Maine, who wished to have a memorial collection in his hometown.

Marsden is known as a pioneer of American modernist painting in the early 20th century. Our Positive Bodies originated in Nairobi, Kenya, and focuses on “body mapping,” a palliative process through which life-sized silhouette self-portraits of women affected by AIDS are used to divulge feelings and memories.

The Langlais and Hartley exhibitions close on Oct. 3, while Our Positive Bodies remains up until Dec. 11. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed on major holidays. Admission is free.

For more information, please call 207-786-6158 or visit the museum Web site at www.bates.edu/museum.xml.

View of the sculpture looking down Alumni Walk

From Paul: Hey all. Taking a quick break from finals studying to let you know about some very cool art here at Bates.  The Bates College Museum of Art and its director Mark Bessire, spearheaded a project to bring an amazing sculpture here to Bates. The ‘Lagacy Mantle (Mao Jacket)’, created by world-renown Chinese artist Sui Jianguo was brought here early this month and is on loan to Bates for a year. The sculpture is truly incredible. It is made of metal, stands 10 feet high and weighs roughly 4 tons. Bessire, the man who helped bring the statue to campus, said that having the sculpture here is an, “extraordinary opportunity for Bates to have one of the iconic symbols of Chinese contemporary art by one of the most influential artists in the world today”.

When I first saw the Mao Jacket I had no idea what to think. I snapped some pictures so you can decide for yourself. Also, check out this article from the Bates website. It is much more in depth and has some AWESOME pictures of moving the huge sculpture (from a flatbed truck, through the air between Pettengill and Lane Hall, into its resting spot along Alumni Walk).

Displaying graphically compelling and texturally intricate wall sculptures, the exhibit will span the artist’s work from 1980 to the present.

“Hemenway’s work features a variety of colors, textures and themes inspired by Maine’s rugged topography, events and phenomena frozen in memory, as well as a lifelong engagement with art,” said Anthony Shostak, education coordinator of the Bates Museum of Art.

Born in Boothbay Harbor in 1920, Hemenway has lived abroad in Europe, Central and South America and Africa. She studied music at Wheaton College and Harvard University before turning her talents to the visual arts.

As a sculptor, Hemenway has earned several distinguished honors, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship to South Africa and a doctor of fine arts degree from Wheaton.

She has exhibited her work at institutions such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.

The exhibition will remain on view at Bates through Aug. 16. Regular hours at the Bates College Museum of Art are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, with additional hours often scheduled on the evening of concerts and other special events at the Olin Arts Center. The galleries are closed Mondays, major holidays and during the installation of exhibitions. Admission is free.

Schools and other groups are welcome, and tours are given by appointment. For more information, contact the museum at 207-786-6158.