Art News

The Orange Coast College Art Center Gallery To Host Arthur Taussig Dante-Inspired Prints

artwork: Arthur Taussig - "The River Styx - The River of Anger #64 (12) and (15)", from the series "Alex’s Abventures in the Five Rivers / or A Year of Dreaming   Dangerously"   -   Photographic print - Courtesy Orange Coast College Art Center Gallery, CA. On view from August 29th until October 10th.


Costa Mesa, CA.- The Orange Coast College Art Center Gallery is proud to present “Alex’s Abventures in the Five Rivers” or “A Year of Dreaming Dangerously”, a new exhibit of 20 photographic prints by Arthur Taussig that will be on display in the Art Center from August 29th through October 10th. Inspired by Dante Alghieri, a 14th century Italian poet who wrote the epic poem “The Divine Comedy” Taussig takes the viewer on the journey through the Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. Taussig, a film and photography professor at OCC from 1971 to 2001, will host a reception on Monday, Oct. 3rd, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the second floor of the Art Center, where the gallery is located. The exhibit will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.

artwork: Arthur Taussig - "The River Styx The River of Anger #64 (8)", from the series "Alex’s Abventures in the Five Rivers or A Year of Dreaming Dangerously" - Photographic print. Courtesy Orange Coast College Art Center Gallery, CA.Inspired by Dante Alghieri, a 14th century Italian poet who wrote the epic poem “The Divine Comedy,” Taussig takes the viewer on the journey though the Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. The exhibit features 20 prints created by Taussig as part of a five-volume series depicting the Five Rivers of the Underworld. Taussig is designing a boxed set that will be available for purchase on Blurb.com. The Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles, will handle sales of a limited edition that will be numbered and signed by the artist. “While beginning to make illustrations for the Divine Comedy, I became distracted by the idea of the five rivers,” Taussig said. “Fire, anger, sorrow, lamentation, and oblivion seemed like the map of a psychological process. This process could be anything from normal growth, to dealing with disease, to working out a relationship, to facing death. “To explore this process, I invented my traveler – Alex – a man of the past and of the present, boldly striding forward, at once concerned and unconcerned,” Taussig explained. “As he explores the Five Rivers he is an observer, a participant, and an instigator. At times he is firmly grounded in the landscapes of the Underworld; at times he seems to float through these worlds. Yet as he moves through these landscapes, observing, experiencing, he never moves – he is grounded in the frame of the image. Alex’s experiences are internal. Thus ‘abventure’ seems to me more appropriate than ‘adventure.’ Alex ventures ‘out’ through the underworld while keeping his experiences internal – the nature of growth.”

While he was at OCC, Taussig served as acting head of the OCC Photography Department and assistant division dean of Fine Arts from 1974 to 1976. In addition, he was director of the OCC Photography Gallery for five years.  From 1992 to 2001, he was adjunct curator of film for the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. Taussig earned a BS degree in physics from University of California, Berkeley; a Master’s degree in biological chemistry from UCLA and a doctorate in biophysics from UCLA. He also completed private studies and workshops and photography and film with John Upton, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham, Jerry Uelsman, Robert Heinecken, Ansel Adams, Henry Holmes Smith, Paul Caponigro, William Parker and John Truby.

Orange Coast College, founded in 1947, is one of the nation’s top transfer schools. With a student population of 22,000, OCC provides exemplary programs leading to Associate in Arts degrees, Associate in Science degrees and 145 career programs. The college’s 164-acre campus is located in the heart of Costa Mesa. OCC’s new galleries are state-of-the-art, and rank among the finest in the nation. They consulted with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and five other museums on security, lighting and sound for our facility. The lights in the Doyle Arts Pavilion can be set in 2,700 different configurations. They have eight large north-facing skylights in the Pavilion that provide us with exceptional lighting all day long. The Arts Pavilion consists of a Main Art Gallery, and the Young Artists Gallery. The Arts Center also houses a performing space, the Robert B. Moore Theatre. This beautiful, recently renovated theatre was designed by the world famous architect, Richard Neutra. It is a 916 seat theatre capable of full scale Broadway type shows, dance concerts, and symphony orchestras. It is here the Theatre Department performs special productions, such as a yearly Shakespeare performance, sellout children’s theatre productions and summer musicals. Visit the center’s website at … http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/