Art goes awkward

‘Modern Masters’ exhibit Saturday, April 24, 5-8 p.m., Pauly Friedman Gallery, Misericordia University (301 Lake Street, Dallas). Info: www.misericordia.edu, www.bethannenterprises.com, 570.674.6400

As artist Julius Vitali prepares for the upcoming Modern Masters exhibit at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa., he is not quite sure how his “Awkwardology” — a new style of art and aesthetic philosophy he created — will be received.

“The audience will let you know whether you are successful at it or not,” he says, as he reflects upon his art during an interview with the Weekender. “There might be some controversy because you are proposing something that has not been proposed before.”

Vitali is a distinguished artist and the author of “The Fine Artists Guide to Marketing.” His other credentials include being the executive director of the Open Space Gallery from 1996 through 2002, located in Allentown, and operator of the Discovery Gallery in Long Island, N.Y. His work will be showcased alongside well-known 20th century modernist artists such as Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall and others. The show features 41 artists and more than 81 prints.

In addition to Vitali’s work, Julie Kuhlken, assistant professor of philosophy and aesthetics at Misericordia University, is offering the lecture “Forming the Modern Imagination” on Tuesday, April 27 in the Pauly Friedman Gallery where the Modern Masters show will be on display. Kuhlken has an affinity towards modern art.

“Modernism has changed visual culture,” she explains. “A lot of people are comfortable with traditional representation. What I want to convey is that there is so much more than that in the world. This is an attempt to take on a large chunk of tradition and say, ‘This is how we see it. This is how you can access modernism as a whole.’ This is a more ambitious show because of that.”

Vitali’s Awkwardology fits well into the modernist ethos and is an attempt to, in his own words, “show that there is a linear process that has been going on (in modernism).” Moreover, he says that Awkwardology has a wide-ranging effect on a variety of different artistic movements and is an idea that he has been developing for many years.

“I came up with the word about 13 years ago,” he says. “Over the years I just thought it was a little more than just surrealism and abstract expressionism. Awkwardology is a kind of banner, and a lot of the other art movements fit into it.”

Vitali explains how one of modernism’s goals is to discover the effect of primitive art forms in indigenous cultures on Western art and creative expression. His use of unconventional processes in his own work seems to be emblematic of what Awkwardology is and the message he is attempting to get across to the larger art community.

“I think it has some merit, but whether it has merit to the powers that be in art, that I couldn’t tell you,” he says.

As Vitali focuses on creating art, Kuhlken sees the exhibit as an opportunity to show some of her students’ aesthetic theory in action.

“It is wonderful as a professor to have this as a pedagogical tool,” she says. “I am going to take my students to the gallery and ask them write about how Plato’s theory of aesthetics is present in modernist work.”

In addition, Kuhlken hopes that this exhibit will be an opportunity to introduce modernist art to the university and community as a whole.

“You hope that a few more people will see why this happened and like it in some way,” she says. “In terms of the community at large, I hope that some people will be converted to modern art.”

When asked what he hopes people will get out of coming to the exhibit, Vitali points out the elements of humor in his art.

“A lot of my work his humorous,” he explains. “I am trying to take something that has common sense, rather than make it be in a style that you need a Ph.D to understand it. I’ve use a lot of unconventional processes in my own art, and you are going to either agree or disagree with it,” he adds. “Art has a lot of sacred cows, and this sort of puts them in their place.”

Yet in the end, both Vitali and Kuhlken hope that the exhibit is a success.

“You have to find a way to make it accessible to an audience that is more or less familiar with modern art,” Kuhlken says. “People should come and see how amazingly diverse art is.”

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