Enjoy three new works of art in the Music Library this month:
An oil painting by Hunt Slonem featuring blues guitarist Buddy Guy is on permanent exhibit in the Music Library. This work was a gift from the artist to Vanderbilt University and the Blair School of Music. Hunt Slonem (born 1951) is an artist who combines abstract expressionism and representational imagery. He is best known for his paintings of tropical birds, based on a personal aviary in which he keeps about 100 live birds of various species. Slonem received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University of Louisiana and studied painting at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Buddy Guy is a blues guitarist, singer and songwriter who has inspired many guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He is an important exponent of Chicago blues and is known for his showmanship, playing his guitar with drumsticks, or strolling into the audience while playing solos. He was ranked thirtieth in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Watch a clip of Hunt Slonem in his studio on the TV show Sunday Morning.
Two art installations in the Music Library that invites viewers to think about noise:
Kelsey Pendleton, a student in ARTS 152 hopes to bring art and literature together but making a connection with Harry Potter and Anne Potter Wilson in her exhibit Extendable Ears. Viewers of this exhibit are invited to take note of the dichotomy between music and a traditional library. Follow the lighthearted exhibit of ears to the “quiet” spaces in the Music Library.
Using the Blair School of Music atrium viewable in the Music Library, Miranda Hoff, also a student in ARTS 152 has installed 1,500 bells on the trees in the atrium. This art installation creates a space in which music can be observed visually, but with minimal to no audible sound. The intention of the concept is to mirror the purpose of the Music Library as a somewhat paradoxical site in that it is an institution focused on the written and silent study of sound and audible media.