Artist Reception and Book Signing: Sunday, October 28, 2–5 p.m.
Artist Talk Story sessions: Sunday,
Nov. 4, 11, 18 and 25, 1:30–3 p.m.
Exhibition dates: October 28 – November 25, 2012
Gallery hours: Mon.– Fri. & Sunday, 1–5 p.m., closed for state holidays on Tues., Nov. 6 (Election Day), Mon., Nov. 12 (Veterans Day) and Thurs., Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving).
Located adjacent to Paliku Theatre. Reception, exhibit and Talk Story are free and open to public.
Phone: 236-9155
Website: www.gallery.wcc.hawaii.edu.
Gallery Iolani presents a retrospective of the work of Tom Klobe, artist, professor emeritus and founding director of the University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery. The exhibition features sculpture, paintings, photography, video and Klobe’s newly published book Exhibitions: Concept, Planning and Design.
Klobe will be present during the opening reception on Sunday, October 28 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. for signing books, and on the following four Sundays from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. to participate in Talk Story sessions. The exhibition, opening reception and Talk Story sessions are free and open to the public.
Klobe is well known in Hawai‘i for presenting conceptually rich and stunningly beautiful exhibitions. During his 29-year tenure at UH he organized and designed over 200 exhibitions, five of which received the prestigious Print Casebook Award for Best in Exhibition Design in competition with major museums in the U.S. and abroad.
His new book Exhibitions: Concept, Planning and Design, published by the AAM Press of the American Association of Museums, provides advice on the art of exhibition planning and explores how significant ideas are communicated to museum visitors through exhibit design. The book includes chapters on concept development and interpretation with 50 in-depth, fully illustrated case studies of exhibitions he produced in Hawai‘i.
Klobe conceived, developed and taught the first course in museum interpretation within a U.S. university. A 9-minute video in the exhibition chronicles many of Klobe’s most memorable exhibition designs from 1978–2008 while serving as gallery director at the University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery.
Few people are aware of Klobe’s creative work as an artist—work that he did from 1966 to 1976 inspired by his experiences living in the deserts of the Middle East. He created more than 60 sculptures and paintings using light and Plexiglas in the minimalist expression that explored human perceptions of space. This exhibition will present 18 sculptures and paintings from public and private collections in Hawai‘i.
A more personal part of the exhibition introduces photographs Klobe took between 1964 and 1966 as a Peace Corps Volunteer performing community development work in five desert villages in the Middle Eastern country of Iran.
“This experience profoundly influenced my life. It formed the conceptual basis of my creative work and formulated a concern for community that permeated my professional life as an exhibition curator and designer.”
To learn more about the life, influences and work of acclaimed exhibition designer and artist Tom Klobe, attend a Talk Story session on Sunday, Nov. 4, 11, 18 or 25 at 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Gallery Iolani celebrates 21 years of exhibitions at Windward Community College with the opening of Tom Klobe's Retrospective exhibition, and is also part of the college's 40th anniversary, serving the community with outstanding education programs.