Harry Roseman: Hole in the Wall

The Art Center commissioned Vassar College professor of art, Harry Roseman, to design and create a temporary, site-specific installation directly on the walls of the Atrium Gallery, the bright, airy space that serves as the entryway to the main galleries. Hole in the Wall is an experiential wall drawing that alters the viewer's perception of the Art Center's Atrium Gallery by highlighting particular aspects of the space - the arched ceiling, the asymmetrical layout, the soaring height, and the round window-breathing new life into the distinctive architectural design. The window in particular served as an inspiration for the concept behind the drawing as it inspired the circles interspersed throughout the composition. Painted in various shades of blue, the circular forms mimic the view through the window at various times of day and night giving the viewer a sense of the passage of time. Undulating and tightly coiled lines appear to radiate out from each circle near the entrance. As one moves through the space, the frenetic energy of the lines gradually softens in intensity, revealing more and more of the brilliant orange that lies beneath the pattern. The lines, rendered in a neutral shade of taupe, reference nature in various ways, recalling wood grain, ripples of water, or even sound waves.

Roseman was chair of Vassar's Art Department and professor of sculpture at the College since 1981. He has been making art in various media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography, for nearly three decades. In addition to his studio work, he has been commissioned to create major works of public art, one of which is a 40-foot polychrome bronze wall-relief in the New York Subway at Wall Street completed in 1990. Another completed in 2001 is a 600-foot relief sculpture entitled Curtain Wall, situated in the arrivals corridor of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport International Terminal.

The installation was sponsored in part by the Agnes Rindge Claflin Fund - a gift of the Friends of the Vassar College Art Gallery (now the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center) to the Art Department to bring distinguished lecturers in art and art history to the college and to support other programs for the department and the Art Center.