Artist Lewis deSoto To Exhibit At Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross presents "Recollection (toward oblivion)," an installation by Lewis deSoto, from September 4 to October 21, 2002.

There will be an exhibition opening reception on Wednesday, September 4, from 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and a gallery talk by the artist on Thursday, October 17, from 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. in Stein Hall, room 102. A reception at the gallery will follow from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

Lewis deSoto lives in Napa, Calif. and New York and is a professor of art at San Francisco State University. He received his B.A. in studio art and religious studies from the University of California, Riverside in 1978 and his M.F.A. from theClaremont Graduate School in Claremont, Calif. in 1981. Over the last two decades, his work has been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. He has received numerous commissions for public projects and was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1996-97.

deSoto's multi-media installations are informed by his broad range of interests including world religions, cosmology and anthropology. deSoto uses sound, theatrical and natural lighting, sculpture, video and what he refers to as "the material of life: electricity, motors, air conditioners, heaters to convey ideas, stories and concepts."

"Recollection" is a installation conceived for and about the Cantor Art Gallery. deSoto has produced an environment using the remnants of building materials from a recent renovation of the gallery, thereby rendering these objects historical artifacts. Holy Cross students from the Senior Concentration Seminar course, Department of Visual Arts, will participate as performers under the direction of deSoto throughout the exhibition.

About "Recollection," deSoto writes in his notes, "in the Cantor Art Gallery, the space is being reconfigured for future exhibitions. In order to accomplish this, materials within the gallery are removed, others brought in. At each exhibition, the gallery reorganizes its physical context to render the artwork in an intelligible framework… In this case "Recollection" is something on the edge between two places, the past and its future. It is on the threshold, on the margins. The subject of the exhibition is the gallery itself. It looks back on itself. It is cleansed of the past, but for a moment holds the materials from its past into the light to see them for what they are. All the materials that are removed during the gallery's renovation are displayed so we may contemplate their visibility; for so long they have stood in the background, invisible. We sift through the glue, paint, dirt, nails screws, wood and observe the proportions and numbers. We listen to the space, try to see into its hidden nature and watch it passing before our eyes into oblivion, forgotten."

"Recollection (toward oblivion)" is being shown in conjunction with the conference "Practicing Catholic: Body, Contestation, and Faith," Oct. 18 -21, 2002, at the College of the Holy Cross. The conference is sponsored by Holy Cross Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.

The hours for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.-5 p.m. The gallery will also be open from 12 noon - 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 19 and from 12 noon - 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 20. It is located in O'Kane Hall at the College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, Mass., 01610. Admission to the gallery is free.