Friday, November 01, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bearing Down

UNLV assistant professor displays his interpretation of traditional landscapes in a new exhibit

Robert Wysocki, a conceptual artist and University of Nevada, Las Vegas assistant professor of art, makes his Las Vegas debut with an exhibit in the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery.

"Robert Wysocki, topiarius ferrous" features the artist's take on traditional landscapes in paintings, drawings and sculpture by the head of the university's sculpture department.

The exhibit opens Tuesday and runs through Dec. 21.

A reception for Wysocki and his work will be at the gallery 6-9 p.m. Nov. 8.

And Wysocki will give a gallery talk at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14.

Admission to both events is free.

"Wysocki brings a sensibility to the gallery that hasn't been experienced here before," says Jerry Schefcik, Donna Beam gallery director. "His bold, colorful and seemingly playful forms harken to the innocent nature in each of us while at the same time maintaining a sophisticated disposition."

Wysocki has a master's degree from Yale University and a bachelor's from the University of California-Berkeley.

His previous exhibits include "Cream" at the Contemporary Arts Collective (2001); "Mandashchild," a solo exhibit at 1078 Gallery in Chico, Calif., (2000); and "99.99% Pure," a solo exhibit at the University of California-Berkeley (1992).

Besides art, Wysocki also has been involved with commercials for Sheraton Hotels, Whiskas cat food, Old Navy, The Discovery Channel and KIA Automobiles; music videos for the Dave Matthews Band; and the feature films "Tear It Down," "Hijacking Hollywood," "Dog Watch," "Hit Me" and "Freshman Fall."

He is also an active member on the committee to return the body of musician Jim Morrison to the United States.

"My work is concerned with the external pressures -- the world, which come to bear on the internal disposition -- the self," Wysocki writes on his UNLV Web page. "Using personal history as a time-keeping device, my work moves both backward and forward to investigate the machinations of personal evolution. The materials and objects used are recognizable yet shifted to enhance their specificity. The front end of my work involves an investigation intended to reveal the way in which culture and society have influenced and formed me. From that point, I critique myself and by association culture and society, then I address their responsibility in my formation. I examine that which has indoctrinated me, mainly television and the print media, through the use of sculpture and video."

The exhibit at Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery has been partially funded by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The gallery will be closed for the Thanksgiving weekend.