(October 6, 2008)

Contact: Rick DelaHaya, Centenary News Services, 318.869.5073 or Diane Dufilho at 318.869.5169.

What We Do Here Photographic Exhibition on Display at Meadows Museum and Turner Art Center Beginning Nov. 2

see also: Warhol Photography Collection Opening Nov. 2

SHREVEPORT, La.— Centenary College presents photographic portraits by filmmakers and photographers John Shimon and Julie Lindemann, Centenary's latest Attaway Fellows of Civic Culture, from November 2—30 at the Turner Art Gallery and Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College. Shimon and Lindemann also will give a public lecture at the museum on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and are available for private gallery talks or class meetings.

The What We Do Here exhibit brings together the work of contemporary Wisconsin photographers John Shimon and Julie Lindemann. Shimon and Lindemann's recent large color portrait photographs look at how the social dissonance of global versus regional issues is expressed in visual terms in the gestures and topography of the people in the geographic region around them in Wisconsin. With the forces of a global economy and an expanding self-awareness enabled by the Internet and media, members of even the remotest communities reflect current international issues via personal construction, products consumed and the display of text, corporate logos and slogans.

Starting in 2004, Shimon & Lindemann photographed self-employed people whose lives and work blended seamlessly, older people whose work became integral to their identity, service workers who performed, fed, amused and pampered those with ample leisure time and spending money with ironic cheerfulness, and artists who worked intently in isolation on their projects.

John Shimon and Julie Lindemann, both originally from Manitowoc County, Wis., have worked collaboratively on art projects since 1981. Their photographs are in the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Milwaukee Art Museum and Wisconsin Historical Society.

They are Assistant Professors of Art at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Their studio has been located in the city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin since 1989. The work was funded in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board and a Lawrence University Faculty Research Grant. The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalog titled What We Do Here available from Lulu.com November 2008.

The Meadows Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Sunday:

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday from noon until 4 p.m.
• Thursday noon until 5 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday 1 until 4 p.m.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Diane Dufilho at 318.869.5169.

Shimon and Lindemann on KTBS

Rick Rowe, reporter at one of our local TV stations, KTBS, took time to talk with John and Julie about their exhibit:

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and is regularly rated as one of the top colleges in the South. In 2008 Centenary College celebrates 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.

About the Attaway Professorships

Centenary's Attaway professorships are named in honor of the late Douglas and Marion Attaway. They combine the advantages of guest speakers and internship programs as they provide brief residencies and interact personally with students and the community. Like internships, the Attaway professors play a mentoring role that encourages students to engage in similar intellectual endeavors. As guest speakers, the Attaway professors bring to campus perspectives that are often underrepresented in the academy.