Don Celender: Destiny of a Name and Other Works

Second Floor Lounge, Janet Wallace Art Center
Open during Gallery Hours

 

Pioneering American conceptual artist Donald D. Celender (1931-2005) engaged artists, politicians, executives, working people—individuals from across all different segments of society—in artworks that questioned and examined the definition and role of art and artists. Using surveys and letters, Celender turned mundane correspondence into works of art which existing largely in the imaginations of his audience.  His interest in conceptual art as “a valid vehicle for reiterating and expanding the scope of the artist as an originator of ideas as well as a maker of objects” came to fruition with the launch of his ‘Corporate Art Movement’ in December 1969.  Business executives were mailed proposals for impractical, if not downright impossible, projects using their companies’ products.  Those letters, along with replies, captured the interest of Ivan Karp, who would go on to represent and exhibit Celender’s works at his New York O.K. Harris gallery.

 

Celender went on to produce other ‘Art Movements’ including Political, Religious, Affluent, Academic, Cultural, Mass Media, and Organizational.  His work, Destiny of a Name, featured in this exhibit, asked individuals from all walks of life whether their surname influenced their vocation. Taken together, these letters and responses invite humor, irony, and sometimes discomfort, in the audience/ reader.

 

Celender joined the Macalester Art Department faculty in 1964 and taught until 2004. Professor Ruthann Godollei, Chair of the Art Department, recalled, “His exploration into public and private attitudes towards the arts…were exhibited to generate conversation and new thinking about art.”

 

Co-curated with the DeWitt Wallace Library, Archives and Special Collections

This exhibition is running simultaneously with Paul Schmelzer: Signifier, Signed with an opening reception Thursday, March 23rd 7 - 9PM