OSU Urban Arts Space Happenings

The opening of the OSU Urban Arts Space allows the Department of Art for the first time since 1990 to present the work of its entire faculty in one space, at one time, together again. Experience the work of all 23 artists: Mary Jo Bole, Carmel Buckley, Malcolm Cochran, Alison Crocetta, Robert Ladislas Derr, Ann Hamilton, Richard Harned, Rebecca Harvey, Scot Kaplan, Laura Lisbon, Charles Massey Jr., Tony Mendoza, Michael Mercil, Ardine Nelson, Ken Rinaldo, Suzanne Silver, Sergio Soave, Todd Slaughter, John Thrasher, Steve Thurston, Ed Valentine, Pheoris West, and Amy Youngs. Guest curated by Joe Houston.

Presented simultaneously with CMA's Objects of Wonder from The Ohio State University.

Image: Todd Slaughter, EMF Comfort Zone: Headtent for Todd Slaughter, 2008

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Alan Crockett: Mark Making
Opens: November 6, 2008 - January 24, 2009

From his earliest figurative narrations to his suggestive pre-figurations of bountiful color, Alan Crockett has always been a painter's painter; dedicated to the canvas, to the brush, to the gesture. His retirement this year forms the occasion for this mini-retrospective of a life in the studio, and a life dedicated to art, teaching, and family.

Mark Making traces, through paintings and drawings, some dating back to undergraduate work, Crockett's prolific output in the studio and offers viewers the opportunity to really see and understand the meaning of a life-long artistic practice. On view are selections from Crockett's thirty-six years of research into the power of symbol and metaphor, the nuances of investigation and discovery, the subtleties of poetic color, the possibilities of line, shape, gesture. All contribute to his adventurous journey of learning to speak the language of art and life through the painted canvas. "Crockett's fearlessness as a painter, his continued willingness to challenge himself aesthetically and always push his paintings to the next level, is clearly visible as one walks through the exhibition," comments co-curator Prudence Y. Gill.

As Crockett recently stated, "To have a subject for a painting is more limiting than liberating. I have to get past ideas to have a painting act as an adventure for me. If I remove the subject, then I can find what the painting is all about." Join us at the OSU Urban Arts Space and find out what a life dedicated to creative purpose can give to the arts and the community that experience the artist's work.

Alan Crockett is the recipient of multiple Ohio Arts Council and Greater Columbus Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships, a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship, and a Ford Foundation Grant. He has presented his work in solo and group exhibitions across North America and in Europe. He has been a visiting artist at numerous universities and academic institutions including University of Illinois, Minerva Academy of Art-Holland, and Texas Tech.

Originally a lawyer, Crockett served in the Air Force as a JAG officer and then as a state assistant prosecutor in Eugene, Oregon. He returned to school in the early seventies to earn his BFA and MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. After teaching in Oregon and Texas, Crockett, with his young family, arrived in Columbus as an assistant professor in the Department of Art in 1980. He retired in spring 2008.

Co-curated by Prudence Gill and Jan O'Dea.

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