K I M R A E T A Y L O R

Virginia Woolf and the Natural World (2010) press release:

Virginia Woolf and the Natural World is the theme for the 20th international annual conference on Virginia Woolf to be held at Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky. The conference theme takes its cues from Woolf's life and writing, particularly her experimental novel The Waves. In it, Woolf writes, “Sharp stripes of shadow lay on the grass, and the dew dancing on the tips of the flowers and leaves made the garden like a mosaic of single sparks not yet formed into one whole. The birds, whose breasts were specked canary and rose, now sang a strain or two together, wildly, like skaters rollicking arm-in-arm, and were suddenly silent, breaking asunder.” The conference aims to highlight the many aspects of nature as examined, experienced, and interpreted by Woolf and her milieu.

An exhibition of fine art, rare books, and other printed material has been curated by Dr. Juilee Decker, chair of the art department at Georgetown College, and will be on view in the College's expansive Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery from May 13, 2010.

Approximately 15 regional and international artists were selected for inclusion in the conference exhibition.

In addition, two works by Isota Tucker Epes (1918-2009) have been lent from the collection of J. J. Wilson. Printed material will be on view from private and public collections including the Special Collections Library at the University of Kentucky, the Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville, and the Cincinnati Public Library. First editions published in London and New York will be displayed including a number of works printed by the Woolfs and at the Hogarth Press: Woolf's Common Reader (Hogarth Press, 1925), Monday or Tuesday with woodcuts by Vanessa Bell (Hogarth Press, 1921), and the sketch of Kew Gardens, number 12 in an edition of 500 copies decorated by Vanessa Bell. The publications disclose, further, the range of activity printed by the Woolfs on behalf of the Bloomsbury Group including Roger Fry (The Artist and Psycho-Analysis, 1924). Works by a larger circle of intellectuals will be included in this exhibition; for example, the work of John Carl Flugel, whose The Psychology of Clothes was published by the Institute of Psycho-Analysis in 1930. Of special mention is the collection of Victorian photographs taken by Julia Margaret Cameron and printed by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at their press in 1926.