The Columbus Museum will partner with the Columbus State University Department of Art to present a dual exhibition:  Beyond the Grid/Into the Sublime - A New View of Minimalism. Featured works will be on view October 15-November 15 in the Museum’s Leebern Gallery and Columbus State University’s Illges Gallery.

Beyond the Grid /Into the Sublime includes examples of the early pioneers of Minimalism as well as contemporary artists who explore and redefine a minimalist approach in their work. Minimalism emerged in the 1960s as Pop artists challenged the authority of Abstract Expressionism. The aesthetic removed the painterly touch, subjectivity, or meaning from the work of art, paring it down to a quiet geometric simplicity, using the repetitive module, the cube, and the grid.

The exhibit in the Illges Gallery in Columbus State University’s Corn Center for the Visual Arts will include work by Sol LeWitt, Fred Sandback, John McCracken, Agnes Martin, Marietta Hoferer, Susan York, Scott Ingram, and Thomas Pihl. The gallery will feature a variety of art works including sculpture, painting, and drawing. The Columbus Museum's installation in the Leebern Gallery will include works by York and Hoferer from the permanent collection, as well as a special installation of Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawings Nos. 154, 159, 160, and 164.

As a part of integrating an interdisciplinary synergy between the visual arts, literature, and music in Beyond the Grid/Into the Sublime, the public will be invited to participate and engage in free exhibitions, discussions, readings, performances, and lectures to be held in various venues.

Schedule of Events

• October 15; 5:30 -7:00 P.M. – Exhibition Opening for Beyond the Grid/Into the Sublime: A New View of Minimalism in the Illges Gallery at CSU

Nick Norwood from the Department of English will give a poetry reading of an example of “International Style” minimalist poetry; Hannah Israel and Michele McCrillis of the Department of Art and Paul Vaillancourt of the Department of Music will give a gallery talk.

• October 16; Noon – 1 P.M. - Lunch and Lecture at the Columbus Museum featuring artist Susan York
•  October 16; 6-P.M. – Third Thursday at the Columbus Museum
  

The CSU Percussion ensemble will present several of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steve Reich's seminal percussion works; Dr. Lisa Oberlander and the CSU Clarinet Studio will present New York Counterpoint; guest lecturer/performer from the Bang-On-A-Can All-Stars, Derek Johnson, will lead a version of 2x5 for two rock bands, as well as Electric Counterpoint written for guitar legend Pat Matheny.

• October 18; 7:30 P.M. - Derek Johnson, guitarist and composer, will perform at the Loft on Broadway with the CSU Percussion Ensemble.

• November 5; 6 P.M. – Michele McCrillis will give a lecture on Minimalism and 1960s Culture in the Corn Center at CSU.

 The Columbus Museum is the second largest general museum in Georgia and is unique for its dual concentration on American art and regional history. While carrying forth its mission to bring American art and history to life for the communities of the Chattahoochee Valley, the Museum serves as a hub of community learning and enjoyment. Through an educational approach, the Museum strives to ignite creativity, inspire critical thinking, and spark conversation.

 The Columbus State University Department of Art strives to be a first choice destination for discerning students who seek challenging programs in studio art, art education and art history with an engaged faculty pursuing creative and scholarly research within a vibrant, contemporary, globally‐aware department.