The Kniznick Gallery at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center presents Half-Silvered: Anne Lilly & Karin Rosenthal

Anne Lilly, To Be, 2016. Mirror, acrylic, aluminum, stainless, delrin, engineering components, motor, micro controller, chairs

The Kniznick Gallery presents Anne Lilly and Karin Rosenthal in “Half-Silvered.” Both artists in the exhibition visually and conceptually explore the notion of fracturing through the lenses of water and mirrors. In their works, figures are fungible — subject to splitting, undulation and disappearance — alluding to an interior space that openly coexists with external realities.

Karin Rosenthal, Cloud I, 2015.

Lilly's kinetic sculptures, made of stainless steel, use precision to establish their own kinespheres of motion. The furniture in her work invites viewers to participate in looking, while other works utilize touch to set them in motion. Rosenthal’s photographs are careful compositions of figures distorted and disguised by their own idyllic surroundings. 

The physicalities and qualities of water and mirrors themselves become part of the subjects in the works. Each artist exploits the boundaries within their mediums — that either define or are defined by what they encounter. Rosenthal’s camera and Lilly’s kinetic design root the artists in their poetic intentions, despite the mechanics of their mediums. Each work utilizes what is "half-visible" to suggest a more expansive and hidden content.

The exhibit opens on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. with an artist's lecture and opening reception with Anne Lilly. On Dec. 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., WSRC Scholar, art historian and museum educator, Annie Storr will lead "Exercises for the Quiet Eye," a contemplative look at the exhibition. On Feb. 5 from 5 to 8, Karin Rosenthal will give an artist's lecture with reception to follow.