OCTOBER 26 – DECEMBER 2, 2012
Virginia and Jennifer C. Groot Gallery, Center for Art and Dance, St. Olaf College
Arch Leean (America, 1929 – 2011)
Revelation Series
Opening Reception: Friday, October 26, 7 – 9 pm
Gallery Talk by Wendell Arneson: Thursday, November 1, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Arch Leean came to St. Olaf College in 1964 after six years as a film animator in California Studios such as Disney, Hanna Barbera, and Creston Studios. His artistic activity includes documentary, animation and live action films, drawings, paintings, computer enhanced drawings and prints, and sculpture. The home he made following his retirement, in Reed Springs, Missouri with his wife Mary, is itself a work of art.
We honor Professor Leean for his life, his work, and his teaching. Prof. Leean taught many, many St. Olaf students to draw and animate.
In 1980, Professor Leean created a series of 40 drawings based on The Book of the Revelation of John.
“The Book of the Revelation of John has to be one of the most visually fascinating accounts ever written. It begs for interpretation, yet it rewards one who only reads or listens to the story.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the word of the prophecy…
Rev. 1:3a
Throughout history there have been numerous interpretations of these passages, and often the results have been more divisive than helpful. Except for a couple of instances, my drawings are not intentionally interpretive. But then, the process of choosing specific shapes for highly suggestive verbal images is inevitably limiting.
I hope the process of combining words with visuals can off-set some of this limitation and provide assistance to the reader or listener who wants to become more familiar with the book without pretending to understand all that it contains.”
Arch Leean