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January 17, 2002

Still lifes to kick off Purdue Galleries' spring season

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The timeless genre of still life artwork will come alive as Purdue Galleries launches its spring exhibition schedule.

Still life paintings by the Zeuxis group will be displayed at the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union in an exhibit entitled "Serial Thinking." The exhibit will run from Feb. 4 through March 10.

Zeuxis is an association of still life painters based in New York that exhibit together with invited guests. Their name comes from the ancient Greek still life painter of Pliny's Natural History who produced a picture of grapes so realistic that birds flew up to it.

The exhibition will feature approximately 50 still life paintings by Zeuxis members and their invited guests, including Biala, Niki Ketchman, Wilbur Niewald, Victor Pesce, Paul Resika and Wayne Thiebaud.

From Monet's water lily paintings to Warhol's Marilyn silk screens, serial imagery was an integral part of 20th century art. By developing a single motif in time or space, artists presented a more complex awareness of the subject and of people's response to it. This touring exhibit asked for each artist to present multiple images of an object or type of object either in a single painting or in a series of canvases.

In conjunction with the "Serial Thinking" exhibition, the Galleries also will present an interactive exhibit called "The Still Life Project" in the Ralph G. Beelke Memorial Gallery in Creative Arts Building Two. Different types of still life arrangements will be assembled in the gallery and made available for study by visitors and artists. Visitors' artwork will be mounted on the gallery walls in a salon-style exhibition that will continue to grow. The exhibit will run from Feb. 4 through March 1.

The community is encouraged to contribute to the exhibit by drawing, painting, sculpting or taking photographs from the still lifes. Beelke Gallery hours have been expanded to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, except Thursday, when the gallery will stay open until 9 p.m. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A closing reception will be 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the gallery to celebrate the artwork created by all participants in the project.

High school artists will be invited to Purdue Galleries Saturday, Feb. 16, from 9 a.m. to noon for "Open Drawing Session Day." The students will have an opportunity to view the "Serial Thinking" exhibit and make their own contributions to "The Still Life Project." Professional artists and graduate level instructors will offer suggestions and critiques of student work.

The schedule for the Purdue Galleries includes:

• "Laszlo Matulay: Images for Words" (March 25 through April 28) – Paintings and prints from the artist's career, as well as a portfolio of Matulay's sketches based on his daily experiences in World War II and an illustrated book of his life, will be on display in the Ringel Gallery. The exhibition and catalogue are sponsored by Alfred and Isabel Bader to celebrate the 90th birthday of Purdue Professor Emeritus and Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Brown.

• Undergraduate competition (April 8-26) – Works by undergraduate students of art and design will be on display in the Beelke Gallery. This juried exhibition will include drawings, paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics and photography, as well as industrial, interior and graphic design.

Purdue Galleries director Craig Martin says he hopes many people take advantage of what the galleries offer this season.

"We are proud to be able to provide visitors with opportunities for intimate relationships with art," Martin says. "A large number of visitors of all ages participated in our recent ‘Li'l Heads' exhibit by creating their own little head images and adding them to the display. We have expanded on that idea with the "Still Life Project," and we hope that even more students, teachers and members of the community will come out to add their own personal efforts to the exhibit."

The Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The Ralph G. Beelke Memorial Gallery in Creative Arts Building Two is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with additional hours for "The Still Life Project."

CONTACT: Craig Martin, (765) 494-3061, gallery@purdue.edu.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu


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