Contact:
Dan Carpenter
(325) 673-4587
Marketing@thegracemuseum.org

Paradise, Eden subjects of The Grace Museum's new Main Gallery exhibit

Abilene, TX (January 30, 2008) - The Grace Museum's newest Main Gallery exhibit encourages visitors to explore the subjects of paradise and Eden.

Picturing Eden, an international exhibit organized by the George Eastman House, opens February 9 in The Grace's Main Gallery.

According to information from the curators, "man-made Edens have been with us since biblical times. They are necessarily contained spaces where the imagination is freed; borders keep the rest of the world from encroachment. However, the attempt to recapture paradise is one of mixed success. While the garden provides us with a place to play, to contemplate, to restore oneself, it can also be a site of loneliness and despair - a reminder of that original lost innocence. The development and changing styles of the garden and the notion of paradise have been as integral to cultural points of view as art, literature, poetry, and philosophy. Likewise, in its relatively short history, photography has reflected the diversity of the human environment. By looking at the concept of paradise and the garden through the photographic lens, Picturing Eden highlights the ongoing significance of a humanistic, culturally charged environment and its place in the history of art."

This exhibition of contemporary works features 37 national and international artists that include Maso Yamamoto, Lyle Gomes, Izima Kaora, Michael Kenna, Sally Mann, Han Nguyen, Mike and Doug Starn, Ruud Van Empel, and Adam Fuss.

A special panel discussion, organized by the Abilene Interfaith Council, is scheduled for April 17 at 6 p.m. Picturing Eden will be on display through May 5.

The exhibit is generously sponsored by the Abilene Interfaith Council, and Portia and S.M. Moore.

The Grace Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Thursday. Admission is free Thursday evening after 5 p.m.

For more information, call 325-673-4587.

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The Grace Museum's exhibitions and educational programs are supported in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, the City of Abilene, Taylor County, and the Downtown Revitalization Program of the Tax Increment Finance District.