New exhibitions opening at the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center’s Mesaros Galleries on Thursday, Oct. 11, include sculpture by nationally recognized artist Richard Rezac, along with works by Cannonball Press, of Brooklyn, N.Y., known as “Brooklyn’s ringmasters of monochrome woodcut follies.” Both exhibitions will be open through Dec. 6.

The Rezac exhibition is titled “Richard Rezac: Sculpture 2003-2012.” Rezac, who is professor of sculpture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will present a guest artist lecture about his work at the opening on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 5 p.m., in Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (200A). The opening reception will follow at 6 p.m. at the galleries.

Since the mid-1980s, Rezac has primarily made object sculptures, abstract in form, using a variety of materials. The exhibition also includes drawings that he completed as a preliminary to the sculptural work.

“The interpretation or association one may make in looking at these works, for me, almost always comes by way of the human body and its extension, such as furniture and architectural detail,” he said. “The visual language of geometry is central to my formulation.”

Rezac uses drafting tools—such as ruler, compass and template—to lend clarity and regularity to his work, and builds his sculptures mainly with simple hand tools.

“I have come to use a variety of materials: primarily wood, cast metal, fabric and concrete, and subject to a number of processes—constructing, carving, casting and molding—each chosen for its contribution to the sculpture’s effect, however subtle,” he said.

“Like most artists, my influences are many and varied. The influences of my ideas and values within art range from the prosaic and local—painting county bridges during three summers in Nebraska—to the profound and iconic—the Pantheon and Katsura Imperial Villa. There are few, if any, cultures or periods in art history that do not hold interest for me.

“Multiple, overlaid, deliberate and intuitive, my process is dependent on such experiences encountered and restated visually.”

Rezac has executed numerous site-specific public commissions. He has received the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award.

His sculpture is in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Dallas Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Smart Museum of Art, among others.

For more information, see http://richardrezac.com/.

The Cannonball Press exhibition is titled “Run What’Cha Brung.” Cannonball Press is run by Morgantown native Martin Mazorra, an alumnus of the WVU School of Art & Design (BFA, 1994), and Mike Houston. Since 1999, they have been publishing relief cuts and screen prints, and selling them for $20 each. From the start, their mission has been to produce high-quality, affordable, one-pass black and white prints by artists whose work they think is awesome. They select their artists from the vast pool of young national and international talent.

Around 2004, in addition to publishing, they started to make large-scale collaborative woodcut prints, sculptures and installations. The work they have produced has taken them to Estonia, South Africa, Maui, Germany and Denmark, as well as to numerous cities in the United States. They have lectured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and were named U.S. Artists Ford Fellows in 2009.

Mazorra will present a visiting artist lecture Thursday, Oct. 25, at 5 p.m. in Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (200A).

See the Cannonball Press website: http://www.cannonballpress.com/

Managed and programmed by Curator Robert Bridges and the WVU Division of Art and Design, the Mesaros Galleries organize a diverse and exciting schedule of exhibitions throughout the year. The galleries are committed to showing experimental work that is innovative both in terms of media and content. The Mesaros Galleries and the WVU Division of Art and Design also host contemporary artists of important or growing reputation who work in all media in the Visiting Artist Program.

All Mesaros Galleries events, including art lectures, exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, from noon to 9:30 p.m. The galleries are closed Sundays and University holidays. Special individual or group viewing times may be arranged upon request.

For more information, contact Robert Bridges, curator, at (304) 293-2312.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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