CLEVELAND, Miss. — Delta State University’s Art Department invites the community to the opening reception of its Annual Faculty Exhibition in the Fielding Wright Art Gallery on Thursday, September 28, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. DSU’s art faculty are practicing artists, designers, and filmmakers who regularly exhibit in venues across the nation. The annual faculty exhibition offers the opportunity to showcase their newest work.
Art Department Chair Cetin Oguz said, “DSU Art Faculty is not only committed to excellence in teaching, but also committed to excellence in their professional practices. Throughout the year, Art faculty exhibits their work in various venues nationally and internationally.”
Several faculty members are exploring aspects of the human condition. Oguz’s abstract paintings are allegories of the human condition with line, color, and texture carrying the meaning. While the work is informed by his own history, beliefs, and observations, Oguz strives to create images that have a timeless appeal.
Korkut Akacik’s work is similarly informed by personal experiences, in this case, memories and yearnings, which he translates into sensory multi-media installations that invite viewers to probe their own memories and yearnings. Jesse Brown’s photographic work examines the social construction of masculinity. He argues that in a society that extols stoicism as a masculine virtue, males find themselves navigating a labyrinth of unspoken rules valuing toughness, self-reliance, and authoritative control. Lawson King is also interested in the issue of control, but he investigates the internal conflict between the need to stay in control and the liberating potential of letting go of control. Lawson represents these ideas in sculpture, paintings, and collages.
Nathan Pietrykowski, Robyn Wall, and Ted Fisher are interested in the associations that places carry. Pietrykowski likes to take walks around town, the observations from these walks form the basis for his prints, artist books, and installations which amount to a psychogeography of place. The focus of Robyn Wall’s work is the home whether the physical structures of homes which she recreates in paper constructions or the narratives she constructs about her neighbors in prints. These narratives are pieced together from the objects left outside their homes. Ted Fisher’s documentary film I Want to Be at the Meeting: Sacred and Secular in the Mississippi Delta highlights the unique relationship of Gospel and Blues music in the culture of the Delta. The documentary which was created in collaboration with DSU students and co-produced with Don Allan Mitchell from DSU’s Department of Language and Literature.
The work of Ky Johnston, Ron Koehler, and Michaela Merryday is rooted in craft. Johnston creates pottery that shows respect for his materials, for the people and pieces that have taught him, and for the people who might come to own the objects he makes. Recently, Johnston began to decorate his pottery with imagery that he had previously used only in paintings and prints. Koehler has created a series of complex multi-axis wood turned vessels for this exhibition. These unique vessels have a natural, flowing quality comprise of intricate curves and shapes that would be impossible to achieve with traditional wood turning. Merryday, on the other hand, creates wood furniture that promote harmonious cohabitation with cats.
Oguz said, “During the Annual Art Faculty exhibition beginning on September 28th, the community will be able to view the manifestations of these creative pursuits. The faculty show is certainly one of the highlights of the Art department’s ongoing exhibition program. We are excited and welcome everyone to join us on this special occasion.”
The Annual Faculty Exhibition will be on view in the gallery from September 28 to October 26. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The gallery is closed on weekends, holidays, and during semester breaks. For further information visit their website at https://www.deltastate.edu/art/wright-center-art-gallery/ or contact 662-846-4720. For updates and announcements of upcoming events follow Delta State Art Department on Facebook.
