Horton Jr Gallery
San Joaquin Delta College
5151 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95207
Contact:
Jan Marlese, Gallery Director
(209) 954-5507
www.deltacollege.edu/div/finearts
jmarlese@deltacollege.edu
Gallery Exhibition Hours
T 11a.m.–4p.m., W–Th 11a.m.–6:30p.m., F 11a.m.–1p.m.
Posted Saturday Hours: January 24th, 11a.m.–3p.m.
For Immediate Release
Delta Center for the Arts
LH Horton Jr Gallery presents
Art In Architecture
Randy Dixon
Thomas Morphis
January 15 – February 11, 2009
Reception: January 15th, 5 – 7p.m.
–Stockton, CA– The LH Horton Jr. Gallery is pleased to present the sculptures of Randy Dixon and paintings by Thomas Morphis. While the artists’ works are distinctly different in style and medium, common threads are visible. The most obvious connection is the architectural element. Dixon’s experience as an architect informs his sculptural work. Morphis’ work also shows a strong interest in architecture, to be seen in structural forms intermixed with organic forms in his paintings. In addition, both artists push recognizable elements beyond their “normal” orientation, creating shifting spaces and skewed overlapping shapes.
The use of mixed media and found objects in Morphis’ works also ties in to the constructed aspect of Dixon’s sculptural work. Both bodies of work evidence craftsmanship and attention to detail. The works are not only colorful, challenging and contemporary; they also evoke a felt, visceral response. The artists are interested in this response, the placement of the individual into the artwork – as subject within the work and also as viewer.
The over-riding theme of Morphis’ series, Peniel (pronounced: PEHN-ih-el), is struggle. Each paining in this series incorporates an image of wrestling figures, sometimes barely discernable, as a clue to the theme of struggle. Although there are visual details that suggest particular experiences, these paintings address the issue of struggle in broad universal terms. The suggestion is through a poetic combination of text and images, which leaves room for individual response or interpretation. Also, struggle need not be seen as a negative, struggle can be seen as a process, a means of growth, understanding and change. The overall mood of this series, then, is positive and hopeful. Additional themes that can be seen in these pieces have to do with obscurity, clarity, discovery, transparency and complexity.
The word Peniel is taken from the Genesis story of Jacob who wrestled with an angel; Jacob named this location Peniel. Each painting in the series has a subtitle which is word taken from an evocative phrase clipped from a newspaper and collaged into the paining.
The Peniel paintings are mixed media works. Materials typically include watercolor, acrylic, collage, found objects, pencil, ink, china marker, pastel, and resin. Found objects, collage, painting and drawing are sandwiched within the resin layers, giving the work a palpable, layered 3-dimensionality as you see into and through the surface.
Thomas Morphis has an MFA in painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He is a Professor of Art at Pacific Union College in Angwin, CA.
Randy Dixon’s Dream House series is about an imagined world where the irrational changes place with the rational. My interest in this series is with the meanings attached to ordinary building elements and how those elements are changed in their meaning when displaced or altered within their context. I was interested in the term “Dream House”, not for its connotation of the ideal living space, but rather for the language that each building element contributes to the meaning of a space. The elements take on associative properties and become metaphors of life. The houses are from my imagination; and as houses of dreams they become places of refuge, or cells to which I have lost the key. They are the tracings of my mind's explorations.
The dream house series is made mostly of wood because this is a classic building material used for houses. Its familiar building construction makes them approachable. Each has but a single room for a single person because of its intimacy and immediacy for the individual. Each dream house is scaled at one quarter actual size where the scale is in between that of a model and that of reality which heightens the ambiguity. It is intended to be neither a representation of architecture nor architecture itself; but archiSculpture, my term for sculpture that uses the language of architecture for sculptural exploration.
In the larger full scale dream houses, my intention is to extend the interaction by involving the viewer in the imagined or real experience of moving through the dream house, interacting with the dream house, and forming one's own associations through the imagined or physical exploration of the space. These larger pieces deny their architectural presence by their nonfunctional use.
Another quality of my dream houses is the illusional disregard for gravity. This is the removal of a structure from its foundation, a place of stability and resistance to forces, so as to transcend reality to dream. In this way, I hope to express the fleeting and unfolding expression of experiences everyone of us has with dreams.
The dream houses are the examination of the meanings given to separate elements or spaces when challenged by a new meaning presented in a new context. They challenge and address universal themes of ambiguity. These houses are the expressions of my reflection on the metaphorical meaning attached to that which we call home.
Randy Dixon has an MFA in painting from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, and a BS in architecture from the University of Ilinois, Urbana, IL.
—Digital Images Available Upon Request
The LH Horton Jr Gallery is a non-profit organization and a premier exhibition space in the city of Stockton. The primary mission of the Gallery is to promote quality and culturally diverse artwork in support of our students’ education and the community at large.
The Gallery offers excellent exhibition opportunities to local, regional, and national artists, lenders and guest curators. The Gallery presents artists’ work in all media, with no thematic or geographic restrictions. Student Exhibitions are held at the end of Spring Semester. Artists’ work is selected through submission of exhibition proposals, juried by the Gallery Committee. Located in the Central Valley near Sacramento and San Francisco, the Gallery features over 2000 square feet of exhibition space, and a 21-foot extended ceiling with hanging mounts and professional lighting.
The Gallery is located on the ground floor of Shima Center, and is wheelchair accessible. Admission is free and open to the public. Recommended parking is available in the Shima lot for a nominal fee. Tours are welcome, and Gallery Talks and special needs may be addressed by contacting the Gallery.