Photo: Megan Lu/The Olaf Messenger
St. Olaf Professor of Art and Art History John Saurer opened an art show on Sept. 15, entitled “Let it Loose” at the Flaten Art Museum. I sat down with Saurer after a walk-through of his exhibit with a first-year art class and talked with him about the exhibit. What is special about this exhibit is that Saurer decided that he would give away all of his pieces in the show, free of charge, to whoever wanted one. When asked why this was, he said that it was simply because his career and time here at St. Olaf is coming to an end after nearly 30 years working for the college. He confessed that at first, he was anxious about letting his art loose to the universe and how it was a big step for him. In time, he said, “It was what I wanted. To go into a new period of my life with none of it coming with me, so let other people take it and enjoy it instead.” In total, there are 829 pieces in the entire exhibit, and almost all of them except for the pieces “Segway,” “Locomotive,” and “Piqua,” which were claimed at the opening of the show by students and alumni or sold to private collectors. If you do wish to claim any of the pieces still available, all you have to do is go to the Flaten Art Museum during open hours and talk to a museum staff member about reserving a specific piece. I was fortunate enough to be at the opening and was able to reserve a piece for myself from the “Tender Land” series. The line to reserve artwork was so long that it stretched the length of the entire side hallway in the Center for Art and Dance, where the opening was held. Saurer was extremely surprised by the turnout of the event and by all those who showed up, both alumni and current students. He never expected that most of his pieces would be claimed within two hours of the opening.
The “Let it Loose” exhibit is a culmination of Saurer’s work since his start at St. Olaf in 1995. The exhibit shows how he has evolved as an artist and showcases his increasing versatility. He started as a landscape artist, as he joked that most artists do, and has evolved into a master of printmaking, sculpture, painting, and drawing. His favorite piece in the exhibit is the “Anna Series” which is a series of drawings made by his daughter when she was three years old, and he added print overlays to them as a sort of family project. If you go to see the exhibit in person you will note there isn’t much color throughout the exhibit. Saurer said this was because he tries to keep the integrity of raw materials and have them stay true to their fundamental form or color as much as possible. Saurer hopes that anyone who comes to visit his exhibit will discover that art takes on many forms and that the possibilities to express ideas are endless.
