Fall Exhibit Offers Modern Vision of Dante Text
de Saisset Museum celebrates Michael Mazur’s ambitious portfolio
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 26, 2017—The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University will present Michael Mazur’s L’Inferno di Dante, an exhibition on view Sept. 29–Dec. 1, 2017; Jan. 26–Mar. 16, 2018; and Apr. 5–June 16, 2018.
The de Saisset Museum celebrates Michael Mazur’s ambitious portfolio L’Inferno di Dante with an exhibition of all 41 etchings and accompanying text printed on vellum.
Michael Mazur demonstrated an almost lifelong interest in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno (from The Divine Comedy, 1320). In this portfolio of predominantly black-and-white etchings, Mazur offers visually captivating and technically complex etchings that bring to life some of the most notable scenes from the Inferno. Unlike other artists’ depictions of the Inferno, Mazur chooses to allow viewers the perspective of being travelers themselves as they move through each layer of the Inferno, seeing Dante’s world through his eyes.
Each etching is paired with the portion of the canto it depicts, printed in both the original Italian as well as U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s 1994 English translation. The portfolio, number 16 out of an edition of 50, is part of the de Saisset Museum’s permanent collection.
A public reception for the exhibition will be held on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at the de Saisset Museum. This event is free and open to the public.
Also on view (and opening that same night) will be the group exhibition (Re)Writing the Narrative, featuring artworks that address social narratives. The exhibition Michael Mazur’s L’Inferno di Dante is made possible in part by the generous support of University Art.
About the de Saisset Museum
The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University is the South Bay’s free museum of art and history. The museum was founded adjacent to the Mission Santa Clara de Asís on the Santa Clara University campus in 1955 and is one of only three museums in the South Bay accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The de Saisset Museum supports Santa Clara University’s goal of educating the whole person through a diverse and accessible range of exhibitions, collections, and educational programs that highlight the art and history of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a center for lifelong learning, the de Saisset facilitates discovery, experience, and inspiration through engaging objects of art and history.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering doctoral degrees. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
Media Contact: Deepa Arora darora@scu.edu (408) 554-5125
Michael Mazur, Canto IV: Limbo, from the portfolio L’Inferno di Dante, 1994-2000, etching, edition 16/50, de Saisset Museum permanent collection, Santa Clara University, Gift of Smith Andersen Editions, Estate of Paula Kirkeby, 2016.14.14. © Michael Mazur; Courtesy of the estate of the artist; RYAN LEE Gallery, New York; and Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston.