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Wier exhibit opens for Ham Fest
by Tom Berry, The Cadiz Record EmailTom
"The Wier Show" kicked off on Saturday night with a grand opening at the museum attended by members of the JMAM Board of Directors, city and county officials, and others invited to the special event. The art is the property of Dick and Pat Wier, Chicago residents that have loaned the collection of about two dozen paintings to the museum. The Wiers have collected contemporary art for years and the exhibit at the Janice Mason is the first time a large part of their collection has been exhibited to the public. The work will remain at the museum throughout the 27th Annual Trigg County Country Ham Festival and the public is urged to come in and see the art. There will be a charge of $3 to view the exhibit except for students and those that are members and supporters of the museum. The Wiers said during the opening that they were impressed with the way their property has been promoted and displayed by JMAM officials and were honored to have the exhibit located in Cadiz - for the first time. "We have been collecting about 30 years and this is the first time," said Pat Wier. "We have sent a piece here and a piece there when the artist had a one-person show, but we have never sent most of our pieces out at one time like this." Dick Weir said the most valuable piece in the exhibit is "Booster" - by Robert Rauschenberg. The work features a skeletal x-ray of the artist along with various symbols that have meaning to his life. "That is an extremely expensive piece," Wier said. However there was some disagreement between the Wiers' about purchase the piece from an airline pilot that kept it rolled up under his bed. "Dick wanted to buy it and I said that I don't want a skeleton hanging in my living room," Pat Wier said with a laugh as she described how she bought the piece for her husband's birthday later. "We have a rule. We have to agree to buy so we didn't get it... but one thing led to another and it was one of the largest lithographs that had been made at the time." The Wiers said their entire home is decorated with the works featured as the central theme. Other works of art not appearing at the Janice Mason include various glass works. The couple is retired after working with International Business Machines (IBM) and Encyclopedia Britannica for many years. Trigg County native and artist Kenneth Roberts said he was impressed by the collection. "I like it. I think it's good," Roberts said. "It's a form of expression." The Wier Show opened for a two-month run on October 4 and will continue through Nov. 28. The exhibit presents works by some of the 20th century's most well known contemporary artists Chuck Close, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, and Sol Lewitt and others presented in a variety of mediums including painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography and textiles. Partial funding for the show has been provided by the Kentucky Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Cadiz - Trigg County Tourism Commission. Additional funding was provided by the US Forest Service at LBL.
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