CHAMPAIGN, IL.- The Krannert Art Museum at UIUC will present Blown Away, on view January 25 through March 30, 2008. Serving as the visual focus of Hollywood blockbuster films and television news stories pertaining to the current war in Iraq, explosions have become a part of popular culture. A healthy fascination that begins with a childhood fireworks display becomes an uncomfortable attraction to the more disturbing displays of car crashes and bomb detonations. As physical forms, explosions are simultaneously unnerving and beautiful. As subjects, they offer an extreme image through which artists can convey powerful anti-war sentiments, provide straightforward observations of an action frozen in time, or subtly render the violent in a contemplative way. This exhibition features work in a variety of media by artists expressing an interest in explosions—from the intensity of an impending event to the sensation of the release and the reverberations of the ensuing shockwaves.

Artists in the exhibition include Michael Bell-Smith, Boym Partners Inc., Adam Cvijanovic, E. V. Day, Heide Fasnacht, Barnaby Furnas, Carlos Garaicoa, John Gerrard, Penelope Gottlieb, Fabrice Gygi, Jone Kvie, Pia Lindman, Stefana McClure, Cornelia Parker, Sarah Pickering, Michael Rakowitz, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, Charles Sandison, Eduardo Santiere, and David Svensson.