For Immediate Release
09/24/12

                                                         Delta Center for the Arts                                               
                                                    L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery Presents:
                                                     2D-3D 2012: Visual Poetry
                                                       October 4 - November 1
                                                  Reception: October 4, 5 - 7 p.m.
                                         
                                                                 Douglas Thielscher - Marble Sculpture
                                                          "The Ninth Circle" based on Dante's "Inferno"
(Stockton)
Delta Center for the Arts LH Horton Jr Gallery presents the 3^rd Annual 2D–3D National Exhibition and Awards Competition, October 4 – November 1. The opening reception is planned for Thursday, October 4, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.  All events are free and open to the public.

This year’s 2D–3D exhibition presents artists’ works inspired by literature and poetry. It is an exceptional show of craftsmanship, diversity of style and individual use of materials in two and three-dimensional form. Exhibition juror Chandra Cerrito selected 27 artists from around the country, including five local artists: Jessica Fong (Stockton), Caroline Henry (Stockton), and the collaboration by Samuel Bassett, Pepe Pool and Pina Jurado (Lodi).

Exhibition Jurior, Chandra Cerrito, is the owner of Chandra Cerrito Contemporary Art Gallery in Oakland, California. Ms. Cerrito reflects on the selection of works in this exhibition:

“In early civilizations, visual representations of narratives were created to pass on religious, cosmological, historical and mythological stories to primarily illiterate populations.  In today’s literate society, there is no longer such a need for art to serve storytelling.  Despite that, however, poems and literature from all eras and all parts of the globe remain points of inspiration for visual artists.”

“What is perhaps most striking about the artworks selected for Visual Poetry is their range of styles, media and literary references.  Source material ranges from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu of 6^th, 5^th or 4^th century B.C. Asia, ancient Greek myths, Biblical stories, medieval literature (“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and Dante’s Inferno) and Shakespeare to works by contemporary writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Alexandra Teague and Leonard Cohen. There are also works that reference or incorporate original writing, some by the artists themselves.”

“Poet Tania Pryputniewicz and photographer Robyn Beattie present mesmerizing videos reflecting on historical and contemporary female figures, combining a montage of Robyn’s photographs and artworks created by others, and Tania’s own voice reading aloud her original poetry. The videos are set to the music of Scriabin and Bartok, performed by her father, Stephen Pryputniewicz, and by Michael Greenwood who performs one of his original songs.  Graphic designer Colleen Ellis uses the ancient technique of calligraphy and Islamic geometric designs to present original stories written by people she met while living in Jeddeh, Saudi Arabia.  Using two languages and non-representational geometry, she blends two disparate cultures, suggesting the common humanity between them.  Other artists who incorporate their own or a collaborator’s original poetry include Janet Kozak and CJ Hurley, both of whom create paintings that pair with their own original verse, and Ronda Waiksnis, whose abstract landscape paintings are accompanied by poems written by her twin Dean Williams.”

“The styles of artworks in Visual Poetry range greatly, from traditional or folk art to conceptual, while the media represented span graphic arts, painting, classical and contemporary sculpture, collage, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and video.  Mia Cinelli illustrates with text and images in colorful graphic prints a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Parisa Ghaderi cut out letters in Farsi from a line in a poem by 20^th century female poet Forugh Farrokhzad as inspiration for her portrait. In a reference to Fluxus art, Jessica Rowshandel used found haiku to inspire simple abstract drawings on small “cards” that are arranged and re-arranged in various rows of three, mimicking the haiku format while introducing chance and variability in the final composition.  In another work that relies heavily on process as well as contemporary technology, Graham Stephens used two poems by contemporary poet Anis Mojgani as points of departure.  He assigned each word of the poems coordinates based on the word’s location within the poem, its number of letters and the value of each letter.  With civil engineering software, he mapped the poems and created sandstone topographies of them using a 3D printer.”

“The vast sweep of source material and resulting artworks in Visual Poetry reminds us of literature’s power to inspire not only people of its time, but also generations to follow.  This exhibition demonstrates that writers from Europe, the Americas, ancient Greece, Asia and the Middle East, some of whom were alive centuries ago, are still sparking understanding, contemplation and inspiration today.  As Emily Dickinson wrote and as Caroline Henry’s watercolor references: There is no Frigate like a Book...How frugal is the Chariot that bears the Human Soul.”

Digital images are available upon request!

The L.H. 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 the exhibition of 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.

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 fee of $1. Tours are welcome and gallery talks may be addressed by contacting gallery director, Jan Marlese, at:
(209) 954-5507, or jmarlese@deltacollege.edu.

 
                        CJ Hurley - mixed media painting - "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"

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