LSU School of Art's Juried Summer Contemporary Exhibition, entitledWild., is on view July 13 through August 24, 2024, in Glassell Gallery.

Wild.

Wild Thoughts.Wild Actions.Wild Places.Wild Beings.

Taking an expansive approach to wild, wildness, and wilderness, Glassell Gallery invited contemporary local and regional artists and culture bearers to submit work that embraces radical imagination and radical noticing of both the wild within us and the wild that surrounds us.The exhibition was juried by artist and Xavier Professor of Art Ron Bechet.Of the 239 entries by 80 artists, 44 works by 37 artists are included in the exhibition.

LSU School of Art is pleased to announce the following artists will be included in the exhibition: Cameron Savage, Amber Hart, Nonney Oddlokken, April Hammock, Richard Boehnke, Justin Solomon, Mark Leavens, Lance Wilson, Miles Kinney, Ashton Howard, Drew Bolotte, Dan Rule, Adrien Picquenot, Becky Blackburn, Adrien Lee, Francis Wong, Therese Knowles, Marcia LeCompte, Julie Glass, Randell Henry, Suzanna Scott, Safiyeh Niknami, Dorcas Brandon, Meagan Moore, Brad Jensen, Sarah Amacker, Vincent Wright, Nathaniel Britton, Kelly Mueller, Isadora Hayes, Geeta Dave, Zoe Magee, Mia Pons, Mahoney Perkins, Debra Roberson, Pamela Cardwell, and Bethany LeJeune.

A free, closing reception and awards presentation will be held August 24, 2024, from 6–8 p.m.at Glassell Gallery.Juror Ron Bechet will present awards, including a $500 First Prize, at 7 p.m.

ABOUT THE JUROR:

Ron Bechet was born in New Orleans and lives in the Gentilly neighborhood.He began his college career with an athletic scholarship at Mississippi State University but returned to study art at the University of New Orleans where he earned a B.A.degree.He went on to earn an MFA degree in Painting from Yale University School of Art.He is also the Victor H.Labat Professor of Art at Xavier University of Louisiana where he has been teaching for more than twenty years.He is known for intimate large-scale drawings and paintings.This work is inspired by his experiences and observations of the consequences of forces of nature and timeon the place and the human experience.

For Bechet, his improvisational mark-making is grounded on those experiences and in the cultural practices of the African diaspora and New Orleans African American culture and ritual.In the work, the revelation of the effects of terrain, light, and water symbolize human contention and harmony, and ultimately the hope of reconciliation and spiritual transformation.In addition to his studio practice, he has worked on several community-based projects using the arts in collaboration with other artists and community members.Believing in reciprocity and giving, he is an active community member currently serving as Chair of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Board of Directors and as a member of the board of trustees at the Ogden Museum of Art as well as Antenna Works in New Orleans.