Karlene kerfoot biography of martin tn

Since , the University of Iowa has annually recognized accomplished alumni and friends with Distinguished Alumni Awards. Unpainted sculpture by Charles Ray, , fiberglass and paint, 60x78x inches. Charles Ray 75BFA was walking through the UI physics and astronomy department one day when he came across an inspiring scene. Ray, an art student whose curiosity extended far beyond the studio, hoped to hitch a ride out to the observatory for some evening stargazing.

Instead, he found a group of students constructing a satellite bound for a space mission. Just as mind-blowing were the sculptures Ray was creating across the river, years before he would establish himself as one of the world's most important artists. For one physics-defying piece, he fashioned a 2,pound slab of concrete atop a slender tree trunk.

For another, he dropped a massive wrecking ball onto a crumpled steel plate, as if Sputnik had just crashed outside the old Art Building. Charles Ray "It was such a formative experience for me," the Los Angeles-based sculptor says of his time in Iowa City. Even though I was young, the university and my mentors gave me a great deal of independence.

Francisco and Karlene Kerfoot,.

My curiosity was endless. Rather than just waxing nostalgic about his time at Iowa, Ray has organized a three-day lecture series April with two fellow art scholars. Iowa native Graham Harman, a philosophy professor at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, will open the series by discussing his theory of aesthetics known as object-oriented ontology.

On the second day, Ray will speak about the nature of sculptural objects. And Richard Neer, an art historian at the University of Chicago, will bookend the series by lecturing on the question of provenance, or art's origin.