Gallery at Penn College to Exhibit Paintings of Jason Godeke
Published 08.27.2007
The Gallery at Penn College, on the third floor of Pennsylvania College of Technology's Madigan Library, will host "Object and Figure," an exhibit of paintings by Jason Godeke, from Sept. 9 to Oct. 2.
An opening reception for the exhibit will take place Tuesday, Sept. 11, from 4:30 to 7 p.m., with a gallery talk scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Following the opening, gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m.; and Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
Godeke, an assistant professor of drawing and design at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, creates paintings that brilliantly balance fantastical subjects and classical style. Included in his visually realistic paintings are toy figurines taking part in imaginative, tension-filled scenes.
"I have long been intrigued by toy figures, which lie somewhere between person and thing," Godeke said. "A plastic figure wears its stereotype on its sleeve; there is no pretense of it having the particularity of a real person. A figurine is a myth or an archetype. At its best, a toy figure allows us to project our own psyche onto its blank expression. It's also mass-produced and impersonal. In making a painting of a plastic statuette, I aim to give that machine-made copy a handmade uniqueness."
Godeke was raised in northern California. He earned a bachelor's degree in studio art from Yale University and a master of fine arts degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has been represented by the R.B. Stevenson Gallery in San Diego since 1995.
Godeke's exhibit opens the college's Current View Artist Series, which showcases contemporary artists working in a variety of media. Sponsored by the college's media arts department, it provides an opportunity to broaden and enrich the educational experience at Penn College. The Current View Artist Series includes six artists for 2007-08.
For more about this exhibit and The Gallery at Penn College, visit online , e-mail or call (570) 320-2445.
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