Surrealism exhibit opens at MSU this month

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

“Etcetera Etcetera” by Michigan artist Jay Garfinkle is among more than 30 works by American and Portuguese artists to be featured in Mississippi State’s “Luso-American Surrealism from the 21st Century” exhibit.

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Works by more than 20 contemporary American and Portuguese artists will be on display Jan. 21-Feb. 19 in Mississippi State’s Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery.

Free to all, the “Luso-American Surrealism from the 21st Century” exhibit features more than 30 paintings, drawings and sculpture creations exploring the popular art movement.

Lori Neuenfeldt, the university art department’s coordinator for gallery and outreach programs, described surrealism as a visual expression of dreams or play with reality. Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904-89)—whose melting clocks are pop-culture icons—remains the best-known representative of the creative movement dating from the early 20th century, she added.

Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, as well as by appointment.

Also free to all, an opening reception for the exhibit takes place 5-6 p.m. Jan. 21 in the second-floor gallery at the MSU Welcome Center. Refreshments will be provided.

“Antipodes,” a large pen-and-ink drawing combining the talents of 14 artists, will be on display during the reception.

Additionally, visitors will have opportunities to meet artists Shahla Rosa of California and Joe MacGown of Starkville during a casual talk at noon on the 22nd, also in the gallery.

Other featured artists in the exhibit include Jay Garfinkle of Michigan; France Garrido and Olga Spiegal of New York; Victor Lages, Santiago Ribeiro and Francisco Urbano of Portugal; K.D. Matheson of Nevada; Patrick McGrath Muniz of Texas; and Laurie Burton, also of Starkville.

In addition to the MSU College of Architecture, Art and Design’s art department and Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, the exhibit is made possible with support from the Portugal-based International Surrealism Now, as well as the local Chalet Arts supply store and frame shop.

The Cullis Wade Depot is located just west of Davis Wade Stadium. Situated above the Welcome Center office, its gallery is among several art department venues that regularly feature traveling exhibits, student shows, and group and solo exhibitions by professional artists.

Additional information on this and other exhibits is available from Neuenfeldt at 662-325-2973 or LNeuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.

Part of the College of Architecture, Art and Design, the art department is home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program. It offers a bachelor of fine arts degree, with concentrations in graphic design, photography and fine art (ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture). For more, visit www.caad.msstate.edu, facebook.com/CAADatMSU and twitter.com/CAADatMSU.

More about campus art galleries is found at bit.ly/MSUArtGalleriesFB.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.

Friday, January 8, 2016 - 10:26 am