Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A series of "mystical" photographs by a Mississippi State art professor will be part of a major 2008 exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.
Marita Gootee, a university faculty member since 1986, recently was selected from among five female photographers from the Magnolia State who had works nominated for the premiere showing. Prior to her selection, she and the others had their creations displayed at the Governor's Mansion in Jackson.
Every two years, the national museum--the only one of its kind in the world--exhibits work by promising artists from each state and international communities in which the museum has committees. The March 14-June 15 exhibit will feature Gootee's collage titled "Sand Shadows" that suggests dreamlike and mystical worlds.
Gootee regularly employs a variety of pinhole cameras to capture divergent landscapes and human images.
Ann Arledge, president of the NMWA's Mississippi committee, praised Gootee for "constantly exploring the art form and working on new techniques and approaches."
Gootee said her images explore the concept of memories: fluid, subject to reinterpretation and not always clear. Blurred images hint at the blending of time and self-reflection, she added.
"It's reflecting on the idea of memories not being as precise as we thought," the artist explained. "They're more fragments of almost broken spaces."
Incorporated in 1981, the National Museum of Women in the Arts is a private, non-profit operation devoted to recognizing the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities. In addition to regular exhibitions, it works constantly to acquire, preserve and research art by women and educate the public about their accomplishments.
A former Masonic temple built in the early 1900s, the imposing 79,000-square-foot facility is located not far from the White House at the corner of New York Avenue and 13th Street N.W.
Gootee, who received her master of fine arts degree from Indiana State University, has had her photographs featured over the years in showings from Florida to Nevada and Virginia to Mississippi.
Gootee said her work doesn't seek to find the grand truths in life. Instead, her pieces serve as reminders of the special in the everyday.
"It's the small moments that come together to make life special," she said.
For more information, contact Gootee at 662-325-3039, gootee@ra.msstate.edu, or visit www.maritagootee.com.
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For more information about the National Museum of Women in the Arts' Mississippi State Committee, contact Arledge at annarledge@cableone.net.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.