Chair-curves-purple legs by Sculptor Dean Wilson
Works by furniture designer and sculptor and Gustavus alumnus, Dean Wilson, will be on display in Schaefer Gallery in the Department of Art/Art History beginning Thursday, November 5 – November 30. An opening reception on November 5 will be preceded by the artist’s lecture/discussion in the Fine Arts Lecture Hall at 4:30 p.m. Schaefer Gallery and the lecture are free and open to the public.
Wilson attended Gustavus in the late 1960s before transferring to the sculpture program at the University of Minnesota. Since earning his MFA in sculpture in 1975, he has continued to stretch the boundaries of art and function in furniture design. He currently is professor of furniture design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His work has been sold world-wide and exhibited at the University of Minnesota, the Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica; the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Domont Gallery in Indianapolis.
The artist writes, “As I make my furniture and sculpture today, process often drives my aesthetic. Over the years, my curiosity about materials and their use increases until exploration of process and materials defines my art. There is no moral imperative, no running narrative, no desire to persuade others to my opinion. I just tell folks I make things that intrigue me BECAUSE of the how and what, and not so much of the why. I love the challenge of a new material, like fiberglass, or process, heat shrinking. See if you can tell what and where I am coming from.”
This exhibition has been organized through the Department of Art/Art History’s Alumni Artists in Residence program. Schaefer Gallery is open daily from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. The exhibition is open to the public at no charge. Additional works by the artist can be viewed at: http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?action=list&rid=9844