University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 24, 2002

By REINE HAUSER
Reporter Contributor

"Let The Work Begin/ Theatrum Chemicum," a site-specific installation inspired by alchemy that marks the first collaboration between UB faculty members Reinhard Reitzenstein and Gary Nickard, will open with a reception from 5-8 p.m. tomorrow in the UB Art Gallery in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The exhibition, which will be on display through Dec. 7, fills the entire first-floor and Lightwell galleries of the UB Art Gallery.

"Theatrum Chemicum" features artwork employing glass flasks and beakers and other such apparatus.

The exhibition takes its name, "Theatrum Chemicum," from the title of a series of volumes concerning alchemy published by Ursel Zetzner, beginning in 1602.

The exhibition includes sculpture by Reitzenstein and photography-based work by Nickard, and features artwork employing other unusual materials, including glass flasks and beakers; apparatus used in chemical analysis and processes, such as distillation; blackboards, and natural objects, among them twigs, pinecones, a tree and nuts.

Although alchemy often is associated with the attempt to transform base metals into gold, in fact it is much more than that, the artists say.

Alchemy can be considered an early study of the science of chemistry, a source of powerful archetypal symbols, an exploration of allegorical journeys, a type of mysticism in which the alchemical transformation is paralleled with mystical experiences and religious ideas, and a source for insights into the metaphysical, they note. Moreover, alchemy has had an important influence on intellectual and cultural history.

"Much like the mission of alchemy, art is both a physical and spiritual process in that it involves purification, filtration and concentration," says Nickard. "Like the alchemist, the power of the artist is to transmute the commonplace into the extraordinary."

Adds Reitzenstein: "Art, like alchemy, is at its most fruitful and seductive at the exact instant of simultaneous existence that marks the moment of changes of state. Call it inspiration. Call it cognition."

Although recognized primarily for their work in sculpture and photography, Reitzenstein and Nickard both have worked in other media, including sound, performance and installation.

"It’s uncanny how synchronistic our interests are," Nickard says of his artistic partnership with Reitzenstein. "We’re working together like long-lost cousins."

The exhibit takes its name from the title of a series of volumes concerning alchemy by Ursel Zetzner.

Nickard has staged solo exhibitions in such venues as Big Orbit Gallery, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Artmart and Hallwalls, as well as at Colgate University and the Alternative Museum in New York City. His work has been part of collaborative exhibitions at Hallwalls and at the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art (CEPA), and at the Puffin Room Gallery in New York, among others.

In addition, Nickard’s work has been on display in countless galleries—including virtually every art space in Western New York—as well as in galleries in New York and Toronto.

Nickard has served as director of programs/curator for Artists Space, director of the Burden Gallery for the Aperture Foundation and associate curator of the Alternative Museum, all in New York, and as executive director/curator of CEPA.

He has served as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, and has made six films.

Reitzenstein has staged more than 80 solo exhibitions at institutions all across Canada, as well as those in Oslo, Norway; Santiago, Chile; Ghent, Belgium, and Rome.

His sculpture, sound and other installations also have been part of more than 100 international group exhibitions, and he has been an artist in residence at numerous institutions, He has received commissions for his work from the London (Ontario) Regional Art Gallery, the MacDonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Art Gallery, the Ontario provincial government and the Canada Council Art Bank.

A fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, Reitzenstein is the recipient of numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. He has been a panelist for the Ontario Arts Council, and is a member of the boards of the Grimsby Public Art Gallery in Grimsby, Ontario, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Hamilton, Ontario.

"Theatrum Chemicum" can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through Dec. 7.

The gallery will be closed on Nov. 28-30.