Lew Alquist exhibition opens Sept. 26 at Center for Art & Theatre

States of Matter Undergoing Habitual Rotation, 1981, Mixed Media, 77″ x 33 ” x 27″
The 91Âț»app Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art will present work by the late sculptor Lew Alquist, Sept. 26 – Oct. 28, in the Contemporary and University Galleries at the Center for Art &Â Theatre.
Alquist incorporated found objects, kinetic energy, sound and scent into his workâprovoking the senses to make the invisible more visible. His work primarily examines similarities, parallels, overlaps, and adjacencies between technological development and human evolution, but it also points to issues of political and industrial corruption as relevant today as when the work was created, in the 1970s-1990s.
âDiscovering Alquistâs work has been a great surprise, like discovering a rich, dense novel that reveals crucial things you didnât know you needed to know about,â said Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher. âNot as well-known as he should have been, Lew seems to have been something of an artistâs artist, known mainly to the cognoscenti. His work manages to touch on important political events of the time, while also offering intriguingly idiosyncratic (and often hilarious) new viewpoints from which to consider the art world of his era, ranging from postminimal materiality to art-as-technology and technology-as-art. With this exhibition we really hope to introduce Lewâs work to a larger, contemporary audienceânot only is the work itself top-notch and provocative, but his statement that âNot everything is art, but everything is art suppliesâ deserves to be right up there in the pantheon with any other profound phrase about artâs inherent potentials.â A presentation on Alquistâs work will be given during an Artist Talk on Friday, Sept. 30 at 5 p.m. in Visual Art Building, Room 2071. A reception will follow from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Center for Art & Theatre. All events are free and open to the public. Alquistâs wife Jane Pleak, who taught ceramics at Georgia Southern for nearly 30 years, curated the exhibition. In honor of Alquist, Pleak started a memorial fund to help the BFSDoArt bring visiting artists to the University to enhance student learning through workshops and lectures. To contribute, go to and choose âMake A Giftâ from the right sidebar. Designate your gift by selecting âotherâ and typing â3694 Lewis Alquist Visiting Artist Fundâ in the processing instructions. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest of the eight colleges that make up 91Âț»app, and it plays a central role in every studentâs core of knowledge. CLASS, also described as the Universityâs College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations and the world. CLASS offers more than 20 undergraduate degrees and several interdisciplinary minors from its 11 departments and five academic centers. CLASS offers eight masterâs degrees, two graduate certificates and one doctoral degree. For more information, visit .91Âț»app, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving approximately 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. .
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