West Gallery

January - December 30, 2025

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Curators Statement:

“Even in stillness, there is movement.” – Anonymous

 

Visitors can embark on an artistic odyssey with "Harmonizing Dimensions," a curated collection delving into the intricate interplay of motion, time, and rhythm. This transformative exploration shapes and defines the creative landscape, leaving an enduring imprint on the ever-evolving art world.

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As we navigate the swift tapestry of the 21st century, our understanding of motion, time, and rhythm in art undergoes a profound transformation. Technological advancements and global connectivity dissolve traditional boundaries, providing artists with new realms to explore.

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Step into this odyssey at the Blanden, where artworks come alive dynamically, transcending conventional expressions. Let the masterpieces converge in your mind, facilitating a harmonious dialogue between motion, time, and rhythm. Across diverse mediums, artists showcase how movement breathes life into their works, time influences narratives, and rhythm orchestrates unique artistic experiences.

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Working in varied mediums, these artists share a profound grasp of the interplay among fundamental forces. Witness how motion is captured in brushstrokes, time in sculpture, and rhythm in the arrangement of forms and colors. The exhibition encourages an exploration of the dynamic relationship between the static and kinetic, tangible, and ephemeral, finite, and infinite – offering profound insights into the role of motion, time, and rhythm in shaping artistic expression.

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"Harmonizing Dimensions" invites you on a transformative journey where motion, time, and rhythm converge, unlocking uncharted realms of artistic expression. Celebrate the visionary contributions of artists worldwide as they entice us to delve into the profound mysteries within these elemental dimensions.

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May this exhibition inspire you to embrace the ever-shifting dynamics of life, fostering a deeper appreciation for the interconnected dance of motion, time, and rhythm in the realm of art.

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East Gallery

May 3 - July 19, 2025

Artist Reception: July 19, 2-4:30pm

 

Artist Statement:

Portraits have always had a powerful grasp on my imagination. It is the idea of duration - or earthly immortality - that gives such a mysterious interest to the painted portrait. Studying the history of portraiture techniques has allowed me the ability to begin to integrate those concepts into relevant contemporary narratives.

My son Henry's diagnosis has been the motivation behind my series of portraits "Many Faces of Neurofibromatosis (NF)". Through this series of paintings, I am the conduit, transforming genetic complications into something secondary and portraying the individual personalities first. Using social media as a connection, I hope to raise funds, educate, and ideally find a cure for NF.

 

Each person painted has collaborated on his or her painting to be depicted in a way that suits them.  They’ve also written their own biographies deciding what to share with the public. 

 

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BIO:

Rachel Mindrup is an associate professor of drawing and painting and the Richard L. Deming, MD Endowed Chair in Medical Humanities at Creighton University. She received her BFA from the University of Nebraska - Kearney and then continued with atelier studies at the Art Academy of Los Angeles. She received her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Her current painting practice is about the study of the figure and portraiture in art and its relation to medicine, healing and identity. Her son's diagnosis has been the motivation behind her series of portraits "Many Faces of Neurofibromatosis (NF)". She is currently painting someone with NF from all 50 states to bring to Washington D.C. when advocating for federal funding for NF-research.

Mindrup's work has been shown nationally and internationally including the Queens Museum in Queens, NY, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney campuses, Georgia Regents University, Vanderbilt University and Washington University Medical School. Her artwork is held in many private collections including those of Primatologist Jane Goodall and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Second Floor Gallery

April 5 - June 21, 2025

 

“On July 17, 2023, my father Leif Lois Madsen, died.

I had been sleeping on the floor in the kitchen while my mom and wife took the only bed. Dad’s hospital bed took up most of the living room. We had moved several pieces of furniture out of the tiny apartment. I woke up early, mom was sitting next to his bed softly talking to him, my wife was still asleep. He had left in the night.

 

“Walk the Last Mile” is the record of three weeks in Denmark.  Roughly split into three sections of time: dad up and aware, dad down and actively leaving us… dad gone.

 

This record is an attempt to capture, the strange beauty that surrounds a good death. A good death being one where you’re home, surrounded by family, free of pain and fear. When you’re ready to say, it’s done now.

 

I hope I’ve made it mean something.“

- Hans Madsen

 

 

Embracing the Final Journey: A Reflection on Hans Madsen’s      Exhibit “Walk the Last Mile”

By Eric Anderson - Curator

 

The father was gone. His absence, profound and still, settled into the house. It lingered in the chairs where he once sat, in the air that no longer carried his voice. The silence now stretched, vast and holy, like a cathedral after the choir has left. In the final, humbling quiet of life’s last breath, when dust returns to dust and breath floats back to the divine, the words stammer forward in the wake of his passing—listening for his presence in the wind, in the hum of the walls, in the creak of the floorboards where his footsteps once lived. Hans Madsen’s Walk the Last Mile: A Journey with My Father captures the quiet mystery of this moment, transforming grief into art. Through the lens of his camera, Madsen, invites us to witness the raw beauty of both “I love you” and “goodbye.” Where the shutter speaks to eternity, freezing time to record life’s whisper. Each photograph becomes a hymn, a prayer, a poem, a fist raised against the inevitable.

 

Madsen’s photographs are more than just images; they are quiet dialogues between the soul and the viewer, reflections on the ephemeral nature of life, and the power of memory. Each           photograph in Walk the Last Mile is an echo of the soul, a frozen fragment of time that speaks of how we live and how we leave. They remind us that it’s not the end that matters, but the  journey—the body as a vessel sailing toward the infinite. His work compels us to reflect on our own paths, on the love we give, and on the marks we leave behind. Images that are a meditations on mortality, a reminder that life’s meaning doesn’t lie in its finality, but in the moments we share, the roads we travel, and the love we give along the way. It’s a snapshot of a life lived, a legacy forged in the quiet moments of farewell.

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• Rachel Mindrup - East Gallery 

  • Neurofibromatosis: The People (May 3 - July 19, 2025) 

• Small Works - Group Juried Show 

  • TBA