The Ohio State Faculty Club is presenting its latest exhibit, featuring paintings by Fred Zimmer, a professor emeritus at OSU. The exhibit features three distinct series — “Ghosts of Venice,” “Close-ups From the Garden” and “Big Still Life.”
Formerly a professor of graphic design, Zimmer has created an exhibit composed of diverse subject matter and a use of a variety of materials.
In the “Ghosts of Venice” series Zimmer uses his own original style to illustrate present day Italy as remnants of an empire that has faded away.
“It is awesome to realize how powerful Venice was as an empire,” Zimmer said. “It has these kind of authentic, theme park buildings that have been around for centuries.”
Zimmer said he portrays Italy through paintings of buildings from different perspectives. The blurry images represent the history of Venice which is still admired by tourists but has long since passed. The series blends Zimmer’s style, choice of subject matter, and use of color to create a realistic image of modern-day Italy.
“Italy is a special place, very historic, but now it is overrun with tourists,” Zimmer said.
On display along with the “Ghosts of Venice” series is Zimmer’s “Close-ups From the Garden” series. For this series Zimmer took different fruits, vegetables, flowers and grasses and painted them in different perspectives. Zimmer said his different approach concerning the style of the series produced an array of colors and created textures.
In “From the Garden: Two Oak Leaves” Zimmer actually used fabric paint to create the delicate veining of the two oak leaves, forming a texture that jumps off of the canvas.
A series similar to “From the Garden” is Zimmer’s “Big Still Life” series, an exhibit all of fruit and also on display. Zimmer said “Big” was started a year ago and is composed of different works that are two or three years old.
“I had started by doing paintings of flowers, and people would come up, look at them and say, ‘Hey, Georgia O’Keefe!’ So I thought, ‘Georgia O’Keefe never painted fruit,’ so that’s what I did,” Zimmer said, explaining how it led him to making “Close-ups.”
Zimmer said a big inspiration for the series involving the still life came from the area where he lives in Upperville, Va., a city just north of Washington, D.C.
“It’s garden country, and it is very inspirational,” Zimmer said.
The exhibit is displayed in a way that complements itself. The “Ghosts of Venice” series is displayed in the main hall, while the “From the Garden” and “Big Still Life” series are displayed in the lounge.
Marion Fisher, Faculty Club art coordinator, explained the exhibit setup and how Zimmer’s style has made for an interesting exhibit.
“I thought his theme was very interesting, and the exhibit as a whole shows very well,” Fisher said. “The pieces displayed in the lounge are a great accent of the pieces in the hall.”
Zimmer hopes observers will appreciate his point of view of the subject matter he has put on display.
“I just hope that people look and enjoy the personal interpretation of nature,” Zimmer said.
The exhibit opened Friday and will be on display at the Faculty Club until March 13.
