Carroll Gallery exhibit spotlights childhood remembrances

Carol Schlueter cjs@tulane.edu
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Growing up, coming to college, graduating — it inspires thoughts about both the future and the past. Carroll Gallery curator Laura Richens has built on the theme of nostalgia for the gallery's new exhibit, “Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood),” on view through Oct. 18.

Paintings by Alan Gerson, including Going in Circles, an acrylic on board, are part of the exhibit. He is an alumnus of Tulane Law School. (Photo by Laura Richens)

“I taught the capstone class in the spring to graduating seniors in studio art, and a number of the students were dealing with themes of childhood, nostalgia, a loss of innocence, trying to hang onto something that cannot be kept,” Richens says. “It occurred to me that it might be an interesting idea for an exhibition.”

The name of the exhibit came to her easily.

“I thought of Robert Schumann's beautiful piano pieces which he entitled 'Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood),&##39; with their enchanting melodies and imagery, and I used his title as the title for the exhibition.”

The result is a display of varied and colorful works — sculpture, video, drawings, paintings — by seven artists, centered on the theme of childhood, memory and nostalgia, including:

• Alex Podesta, life-sized cast sculptural figures that recall his childhood fantasies and imaginings;

• Natalie McLaurin, figurative sculpture, and her own movements caught in video pieces;

• Monica Zeringue (a former adjunct art instructor at Tulane), intricate, delicate and expressive graphite drawings that use imagery of young girls;

• Stephen Paul Day and Sibylle Peretti, explorations of childhood, with Peretti's pieces from a series about feral children, haunting in their expressions and subtle gestures;

• Mark Bercier, combining nostalgic advertising images with his own personal iconography in works on paper; and

•Alan Gerson, paintings inspired by imagery from the photo albums and memories of youthful experiences.

The closing reception for the show will be at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 18. The Carroll Gallery is located in the art building at the Woldenberg Art Center on the Tulane University uptown campus, and is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.