A diary in brush strokes

New York artist Burt Hasen has never remained stagnant in one style. Since he began his career in the late 1940s, Hasen has dabbled in many schools, starting with Picasso-inspired cubism to abstract expressionism to Dali-esque surrealism.

Throughout his career, the only constant has been the artist.

A new exhibit at the Southeast Missouri Regional Museum, "Burt Hasen: A Life in Art," seeks to bare Hasen's soul to art lovers and students, giving them a glimpse not only into his art, but into his life journey.

Museum director Dr. Stanley Grand said Hasen was not an artist who developed his style early and then left his talent on autopilot for the rest of his life. "I see it almost like a diary of a person's life. To me, I think that is so important for both students and the general public."

While Hasen is a well-known brush on the New York arts scene, his name doesn't have the star power of an Andy Warhol or Jackson Pollock. Nevertheless, Hasen is an accomplished artist with a long history.

"The thing that makes New York interesting is that there are not just three superstars, it's not just like a team with one outstanding quarterback, it's a team with a great deal of depth," said Grand.

After serving in the Pacific theater in World War II, Hasen used his G.I. Bill to study art in Paris in the late 1940s. Like many other young artists of his time, Picasso's cubism was the ideal Hasen strove for.

Hasen returned to America in the early 1950s and starting teaching at the New York School of Visual Arts, where he remained for 50 years. In the '60s, the artist won national prominence after Time magazine called him one of the hot new minds in art.

Since those beginnings as a student in the 1940s, the only constant in Hasen's career has been change.

The pieces exhibited at the museum follow these changes. From his early cubism experiments, Hasen launched full-bore into the abstract expressionism of the '50s. "Envelopment" is one of these works, with a myriad of swirling colors surrounding a turbulent center that could be an abstraction of the human face.

Later works like 1972's "Ladder into Space" and 1971's "Red Dawn of Terror" start to show the surrealism that will later dominate Hasen's treatment of his muse, Marie Antoinette, in 1987's "Serial Marie Antoinette: Homage to Jacques-Louis David."

Hasen's experiments culminate in his latest works, abstract pieces that resemble maps on parchment, inspired by American Indian artwork, like 1989's "In the Heart of New Guinea" and 2001's "Within the Black Window."

But these works aren't just cold, formal experiments into new styles and themes. Hasen's work always seems to maintain a human element to it, one that explores human emotion, sometimes in a historical context.

"He's not a minimalist," said Grand. "He's never been one to empty his art of meaning and content. It's just the opposite, it's all you can eat and then some."

Grand said Hasen was is very interested in history, particularly French and contemporary history.

"Red Dawn of Terror" is a dark treatment inspired by the Holocaust, with dark human skulls (almost charred-looking) connected by wires against a blood red window. The painting incites images of fear and tragedy -- a window into the darkest of humanity.

Like many artists, Hasen has a fascination with windows. Like the geometric cubes, cylinders and cones of cubism that appear in early and later works, the theme of windows keep coming back.

"One of the things that does appear throughout is this idea of windows, like you're looking into another world," said Grand.

Museum operators hope those windows will carry art students and community members into other worlds, as well. Curator Jim Phillips said the exhibition has been scheduled to coincide with the start of the fall semester so both university and high school students can see the show.

Phillips said the museum is encouraging high school instructors to bring in their classes. The museum wants to reach out past the campus and into the community, bringing in groups that normally wouldn't be there, Phillips said.

To help achieve that goal, the museum opened the exhibition Thursday with an ice cream social -- a special incentive for students and community members to view the work of an accomplished artist.

The Hasen exhibition is ideal for educators, Grand said, since it covers several schools of painting through the filter of one artist.

Not only is "A Life in Art" a study of art, but of a human life, said Grand.

"I think it's really important for students and people who are interested in the evolution of human beings to see both how we change and move into old age while still maintaining aspects that are constant," said Grand.

The exhibit was made possible by financial assistance from the Missouri Arts Council.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182