Each year Kresge Art Museum (KAM) presents a variety of special exhibitions that provide the opportunity to explore specific artists, time periods, or movements in art. In addition to the changing exhibits, works from the permanent collection are often rotated, so there is always something new to see at KAM.

Traditionally KAM’s January exhibits are part of what we call Masterworks exhibits. The idea behind these is that we borrow treasured works of art from across the country that fit a particular theme and display them for the residents and visitors to the Greater Lansing area. This year’s exhibition, Masters of Illusion: 150 Years of Trompe l’Oeil in America, continues this tradition with works on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Manoogian Collection, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Arts and leading New York City galleries.

Masters of Illusion explores American works created in the trompe l’oeil tradition, from its beginnings in the late 1800s to works by contemporary artists. Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase that means “fool the eye,” and that’s exactly what the over 40 paintings and sculptures will offer visitors.

Trompe l’oeil works challenge the viewer’s perception of the real and the space in which reality exists. The dollar bills in a number of paintings look like you could touch (and spend) them, the food in William Michael Harnett’s paintings looks so real you might be tempted to help yourself, and the pencil sculpted by Tom Friedman might trick you into thinking you could use it to write a quick note.

While many books and exhibits have explored the trompe l’oeil tradition in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this exhibit is unique in its exploration of the tradition across mediums including paintings, sculptures, prints and video. This bridging of early paintings with works by contemporary artists shows a range of techniques and variety of results within the trompe l’oeil tradition.

Masters of Illusion is curated by April Kingsley, Kresge Art Museum’s curator. KAM will be the only venue where this exhibit will be seen.

Masters of Illusion is made by possible by MSU Federal Credit Union, the sponsor of this exhibit, and a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. This combination of funding allows Kresge Art Museum to borrow works of art and to create a series of educational programs related to the exhibition for mid-Michigan audiences.

William Michael Harnett (1848-1892) and John Frederick Peto (1854-1907) were pioneers of the trompe l’oeil tradition in America. Two of Harnett’s still life paintings from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Flint Institute of Arts will be on display. A range of still lifes by Peto will include one of his finest paintings of a letter rack, on loan from the Manoogian Collection. Formed by Richard Manoogian of Masco Corporation in Taylor, Michigan, the Manoogian Collection is a leading collection of American art in the United States.

In America the trompe l’oeil tradition experienced a revival beginning in the late 1970s and ’80s that continues today. Today’s artists have expanded the tradition into prints, sculpture and video. The exhibit also marks one of the first opportunities for the Greater Lansing area to see works by the contemporary artists, including Robert Gober, Tom Friedman and Sam Taylor-Wood.

Robert Gober is known for his attempts to replicate real objects. His pieces are so convincing that the complex creation process is easily overlooked. His work on display, Untitled, from 1991, is a hand-colored lithograph on folded newsprint that closely resembles a newspaper. In 2000 an exhibit of Gober’s work was organized by the Walker Art Center and traveled to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

To create his sculptures Tom Friedman often uses unconventional materials, which can range from toothpaste to chewing gum. His works in Masters of Illusion resemble a pencil and a spider. Friedman is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Some Midwesterners might be familiar with Friedman’s work, since it was the focus of an exhibit in 2000 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Masters of Illusion also presents Still Life, 2001, by Sam Taylor-Wood, which shows new possibilities for the trompe l’oeil tradition with her use of film and video that surprise the viewer. Taylor-Wood shows in New York City and London galleries.

Master of Illusion is not to be missed and will be on display at Kresge Art Museum January 10 through March 20. This is exactly the type of high-caliber exhibition Kresge Art Museum looks forward to presenting in an expanded art museum in the future.

		Julie Thomson is the community outreach coordinator for Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University.