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New Steensland Museum exhibit by Jil Evans explores work of Tiepolo; opens Saturday, Sept. 15

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September 12, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? A new exhibit by Jil Evans, inspired by the work of baroque painter Giambattista Tiepolo, opens at St. Olaf College?s Steensland Art Museum Saturday, Sept. 15, continuing through Saturday, Oct. 28.

Evans will discuss her work during an opening reception at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, in Steensland Art Museum.

Evans?s exhibit, "Tiepolo?s Cloud," focuses on her perception of an ecstatic habitation of space depicted by Tiepolo?s paintings. Evans says her paintings are "grounded in physical experience while acknowledging the overwhelming desire to be free of the restraints of the body."

Evans was drawn to Tiepolo?s art because of his speed of line and his strong use of color, as well as his many ambiguities of form.

The artist?s first experience with the work of Tiepolo was in 1998, at Boston?s Museum of Fine Arts. There, in a hallway, she noticed a small painting by Tiepolo, and she sketched it. She was intrigued with a shape that occurs in Tiepolo?s paintings ? a shape representing both a cloud and an ambiguous Rorschach inkblot. This "cloud" engaged Evans? imagination, inspiring her to study it and use it as a starting point for her series of paintings.

Evans has completed nearly 400 drawings, oil sketches and paintings, with Tiepolo?s cloud as inspiration.

The exhibit ranges from Evans? initial 1998 concept, to sketches she made in museums in Boston, New York and Rome, to color sketches and watercolors, and finally to large-scale abstract paintings based on Tiepolo?s imagery.

Steensland Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information please call (507) 646-3556.

The Effie Conkling Gallery at Mankato State University will also exhibit "Tiepolo?s Cloud."

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.