BYU Museum of Art plans 2008 exhibits

While Geneva Steel in Vineyard was being taken apart, Chris Dunker was there to record the event. The result is "Dismantling Geneva Steel: Photographs by Chris Dunker," which opens March 14 and runs through Nov. 1.

Dunker began to record the dismantling in November 2004. Within three years the largest steel-production facility west of the Mississippi was gone.

He documented the vacated spaces, silenced machinery and advancing destruction of this once productive steel works.

Another important historical exhibition documents the collapse of Modernist art as newer art forms took over between 1960 and 1972. This exhibition, "Turning Point: The Demise of Modernism and the Rebirth of Meaning in American Art," opens July 17 and runs through Jan. 9, 2009.

"At this moment, the United States of America had the greatest influence upon the history of world art, and the results of the change formed the foundation of all that we see in contemporary art today," Wilson said.

Another exhibition focuses on the results of isolationism. From 1639-1854 Japan purposefully isolated itself from the rest of the world. During these two centuries Japanese artisans created a unique tradition of elegant prints made from intricately carved woodblocks.

An exhibition of some of these images opens Sept. 26 titled "Windows on a Hidden World: Japanese Woodblock Prints From the BYU Collection."

"The exhibition includes images of sumptuously dressed entertainers and actors, along with scenes of the serene landscape and bustling urban life from this period when Japan was a mysterious, hidden kingdom," Wilson said.

Later in the year a contemporary art exhibition by sculptor Dan Steinhilber opens. The exhibition runs from Dec. 5 through May 2009 and is being organized by the museum.

The museum is on North Campus Drive. For more information call 422-8287 or see moa.byu.edu. Hours are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, noon-5 p.m. The museum is