Northern Kentucky University

Moby-Dick Art at NKU: Two Exhibitions at the W. Frank Steely Library in 2011

Eva G. Farris Reading Room

Moby-Dick Posters, Prints, and Sculptures by Frank Stella, NKU students, and Other Artists

February 1 – May 1, 2011

In 1851, Herman Melville wrote in Moby-Dick that “the great Leviathan is that one creature in the world which must remain unpainted to the last.”

In 1995, Elizabeth Schultz published Unpainted to the Last, a book which brought together a century of American art created in response to Melville’s Moby-Dick.

In this exhibition (and its companion exhibition in the Schlachter Archives downstairs), we follow Moby-Dick art around the world and into our new century.

The twelve posters on the south wall illustrate the growth of Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick series between 1985 and 1993–and its distribution around the world between 1990 and 2002. These posters show the evolution of the series from the early Wave prints, through several groups of metallic reliefs, to the Deckle Edges prints near the end of the series. Four of the prints are from Japan, two from Germany, one from Switzerland, and five from the United States.

On the north wall, two posters for Schultz’s Unpainted to the Last are accompanied by Moby-Dick art created between 1996 and 2009 by artists around the world and students at NKU. In addition to works by A. C. Christodoulou from Greece, Robert Del Tredici from Montreal, and George Klauba from Chicago, we see Moby-Dick art created by Abby Schlachter Langdon, Laura Knight Bird, Carola Bell, Kathleen Piercefield, and Jessica Slone in NKU classes on Melville, Frederick Douglass, and the Arts.

All works on this floor are from the personal collection of Robert K. Wallace, NKU Regents Professor of English.

Moby-Dick Posters, Prints, and Sculptures by Frank Stella, NKU students, and Other Artists

Eva G. Farris Reading Room

Second Floor of the W. Frank Steely Library

Schlachter Archives

Moby-Dick Art in Northern Kentucky

February 1 – May 1, 2011

This exhibition, in honor of the February 1st lecture by French Moby-Dick book artist Claire Illouz, displays works by national and international artists along with those created by students and alumnae of NKU classes in Melville and the Arts. International artists include Vali Myers from Australia and Italy, A. C. Christodoulou from Greece, Claire Illouz from France, and Robert Del Tredici from Canada. From closer to home are Aileen Callahan from Boston, Mark Milloff from Rhode Island, Denise Burge from Cincinnati, and NKU students and alumnae Kathleen Piercefield, Carola Bell, Nancy Vagedes, Laura Bird Knight, Holly Doyle McAttee, and Danielle Wallace. Artistic media includes prints, paintings, sculptures, book illustrations, and a 15-piece Moby-Dick Tea Set. Available by request in the Archives is the NKU copy of Illouz’ artist book The Whiteness, one of 25 in the world.

Exhibition: Moby-Dick Art in Northern Kentucky

Schlachter Archives

Room 106, W. Frank Steely Library

The copyright for all the art shown in this web exhibit belongs to the artist who created each piece. No one may use these images in any way without the express consent of the artist. The W. Frank Steely Library has obtained written consent from all the artists represented in this exhibit.