By Any Means: National Drawing Exhibit to Open at University Gallery Feb. 8

I am always looking for exhibitions of high caliber and a broad scope to bring to our students and our surrounding community, some of whom may not have the opportunity to visit museums and galleries. - Kathy Zimmerer, director, University Art Gallery

“By Any Means: Works from the National Drawing Invitationals,” will open on Feb. 8 and continue through March 8, at the University Art Gallery. Kathy Zimmerer, Gallery director, University Art Gallery, says that the exhibit “demonstrates that contemporary drawing maintains its vitality through continuous reinvention of the form.

“Of all the visual media, drawings most clearly reveal the artist’s touch, and I wanted our students and community to gain insight into the creative process by viewing these important contemporary works," she explains.

The exhibit consists of 31 representative drawings from the Eppink Gallery at Emporia State University in Kansas, and curated by Donald D. Perry, professor emeritus of art, Emporia State University. The collection is made up of purchases from each of the last 25 years of the annual invitational, and includes the works of Donald Roller Wilson, Janis Mars Wunderlich, Robert Stackhouse, Phillip Pearlstein, Robert Cottingham and Harvey Breverman.

“Many of the artists are of national repute, with many styles represented from Bay Area funk by Northern California artist William Wiley, to pop art, as represented by Robert Cottingham’s drawing, 'While-U-Wait,'" says Zimmerer, ranging from rapidly executed sketches that reveal the artist’s creative process, to highly finished drawings that are a work of art in themselves.”

An opening reception will be held on Feb. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. A gallery tour by Diane Hayden, artist and drawings expert, begins at 6:30 p.m. This exhibit and related events are sponsored by the Carson Fine Arts and Historical Commission with   additional funding by the Instructionally Related Activities Committee of the Associated Students, Inc. Since 1991, The City of Carson Fine Arts and Historical Commission has sponsored one exhibition per year at the University Art Gallery, as well as supporting the Theater Arts Department and the Carson-Dominguez Symphony, conducted by emeritus professor of music
Frances Steiner.         

“With the generous sponsorship of the City of Carson Fine Arts and Historical Commission, I was able to bring this museum-quality exhibition with internationally known artists to the CSUDH campus,” Zimmerer says.  “I am always looking for exhibitions of high caliber and a broad scope to bring to our students and our surrounding community, some of whom may not have the opportunity to visit museums and galleries.  For some of our audience, this is their first experience in a museum or art gallery."

Admission is free to all gallery events.  The University Art Gallery is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday-Thursday. The campus is located at 1000 E. Victoria Street in Carson, off Avalon Boulevard near the junction of the 91 and 405 freeways. Visitor parking permits may be purchased for $3.00 at the yellow dispensing machines at the front of each campus lot. Visitor parking permits may be purchased for $3 at the yellow dispensing machines at the front of each campus lot. For more information on “By Any Means” and the University Art Gallery, visit http://www.cla.csudh.edu/artgallery.

-Joanie Harmon

Photos above: (Top) Donald Roller Wilson, "Mrs. Jenkins' House with Large Kitchen Matches on the Lawn and with One Stuffed Olive on the Roof," 1989, pencil and watercolor

(In story) Robert Cottingham, "While-U-Wait," 1978, pencil on paper