Feature Articles


November Issue 2000

Works by James Surls Offered at Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University's Visual Arts Series, sponsored by the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Art, will present the works of internationally recognized sculptor and printmaker James Surls. The exhibit, entitled Embracing Paradox, will be at the University's Catherine J. Smith Gallery, in Boone, NC, and will run through Dec. 4.

Originally from Terrell, TX, Surls currently resides in Basalt, CO. He earned a BS from San Houston State College in Huntsville, TX, and holds an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. As chairman of the University of Houston's sculpture department from 1979 - 1982, Surls founded the Lawndale Annex, the city's first alternative art space that now thrives independently as the Lawndale Art and Performance Center. This effort was the beginning of a long-standing commitment to public art projects such as Houston's Art Car Parade, which has become a notorious and popular component of Houston's folk art fair, the Orange Festival.

Surls' recent solo exhibitions include shows at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Dallas TX, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and the Marlborough Chelsea in New York. He holds numerous awards, including a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in 1979, the Houston Area Art League's Texas Artist of the Year in 1991, and the Living Legend Award from the Dallas Visual Arts Center in 1993. His works can be found in the permanent collections of several prestigious American museums, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

The linocuts, woodcuts, and sculptures of James Surls address and celebrate the universal themes of love, birth, death and work. His works explore the complexities of negotiating life's compromises, and the search for meaning and integrity in "simple," everyday life.

For further infomation check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the gallery at 828/262-3017.

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