DVAC Opens “In Vivo” – Artists, Scientists, Photosensitive Lab Coats and Wine in the Studio

To kick-off its fall season, the Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC) presents In Vivo: Erin Holscher Almazan, Francis Schanberger and Diane Stemper, opening for Urban Nights, Friday, September 14, 5-10 pm and running through October 20.  A homegrown showcase of the area’s most talented artists, the exhibiton features drawing and prints by University of Dayton (UD) faculty member Erin Holscher Almazan; photographs and prints by UD Artist-in-Residence Francis Schanberger; pen & ink drawings and artist’s books by Diane Stemper; and is curated by Bridgette Bogle, painter and art department Associate Professor, Sinclair Community College.

In Vivo: Latin for “within the living” exemplifies the artists’ investigations into biology, cosmology and anatomy. They approach their chosen subjects—classifying, categorizing and organizing—with a degree of the romantic, humorous, political or metaphorical.

Special Site Specific Project:  Anthotype and Photogram Coats by Francis Schanberger

Get ready for this: Schanberger will be tackling a fugitive photographic process called Anthotype—considered “fugitive” since the the image is created by the fading power of light.

With a background in biochemistry and cell biology, Schanberger’s affinity to lab coats is tied to their appeal as a symbol for a scientist, doctor or nineteenth century naturalist as well as an early experience in which his lab supervisor admonished him to “Never wear your lab coat outdoors. If you do, you will bring back spores that will contaminate our cell lines.”

Since 2004, he experimented with a dark ground (cyanotype) and light ground (anthotype) photogram designs on coats. For him, it is a way of brnging the outdoors back inside to “contaminate” the research being displayed. Experiments of the naturalists, both processes were used and invented by an early photographer.

The anthotype process is a very “green” photographic process that utilizes the fading power of light to “etch” an image on material coated with plant pigments. Berries, flower petals and beet roots are the favorite of practitioners of this photographic technique. It is considered a fugitive photographic process since the image is created by the fading power of light.

For DVAC’s Site Specific installation, the progress will be seen on Ash Seed Coat (In Progress During Exhibition), a saffron stained coat which will get about two hours of late, late afternoon exposure. He will also create an ash seed light resist which will form an image on both sides of the garment. The coat will have the added context of using a fabric dye used by monks in Asia. This final coat will be a mixture of the spiritual and scientific; an ephemeral recording of its time at the Dayton Visual Arts Center.

Wait. What’s this About Wine in the Studio?

Picture this: a late Saturday afternoon: start at UD’s Print Studio; get an up-close and personal view of three artists’ materials and methods in a casual, behind-the scenes gathering; follow-up with a glass of wine or beer with the artists at Jimmie’s Ladder 11; head-out with your very own signed, limited edition print to start or add to your collection by one of your new artist friends. Ends before your Saturday night plans.

And that’s just what DVAC has organized for a small group of 24 guests. Studio Visit: A DVAC Field-trip will take place on Saturday, September 22, 2012. Tickets available on a first-come; first-served basis and are $85 each; $100 couples. For Field-trip only (studio + 1 drink ticket each): $35 each, $50 couples.  A new experience. A deeper connection to art. A good time. RSVP to [email protected] or call 937.224.3822.

About the Artists

All three artists live, work and teach in Dayton; have won numerous grants and fellowships; and whose artwork is known and widely collected throughout the region and across the country. They will be featured in DVAC’s Fall exhibition: In Vivo: Erin Holscher Almazan, Francis Schanberger and Diane Stemper, Sep 14-Oct 20. Erin received her BFA from Minnesota State University Moorhead and her MFA in Printmaking from Rochester Institute of Technology, New York and is Associate Professor of Printmaking and Drawing at the University of Dayton. Francis received a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from University of California San Diego and MFA in Photograph and Digital Imaging from The Ohio Stte Unveristy and is Artist-in–Residence at the University of Dayton. Diane received a BFA in Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from San Francisco State University.