Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art will exhibit selected works by 2011 Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair David Humphrey Friday, Feb. 4 through Thursday, Feb. 24 in gallery 307 of the art school. The opening reception on Friday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. is open to the public.
The Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair was established to honor Lamar Dodd, the first chair of what was then the UGA art department, for whom the school is named. The Dodd Chair is an annual appointment to an outstanding visual artist who has demonstrated a commitment to teaching in the studio or classroom. During their term, the holder of the chair is bestowed the rank of full professor at the university level.
Currently a senior critic at the Yale School of Art, Humphrey is a painter, critic and curator who has received numerous awards for his paintings, drawings, installations and prints. These include a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and two New York Council for the Arts Grants. In 2009, Humphrey published Blind Handshake (Periscope), an anthology of his reviews and catalogue essays that explores the connections between his studio practice and his criticism.
Humphrey’s UGA exhibition will be comprised of acrylic paintings on canvas completed over the last three years. Humphrey often makes use of existing paintings and re-purposes a variation on the composition to create a new point of view. His approach to creating art informs and is informed by his work as a writer, curator and critic.
“I like the idea that they tangle into each other,” Humphrey said.”That in some ways, when one organizes a painting, there can be a curatorial feature to it. Many of the images in my paintings are found, re-configured and juggled into relationships with other ones to create a new fiction. The writing is a way for me to obtain perspective, to step outside of my practice but still exercise my interests.”
“We feel excited and very lucky to have David serve as Dodd Chair this year,” said Chris Hocking, associate director in the art school. “He’s very agile engaging with a wide range of visual culture and contemporary studio practice, and his own significant research activity reflects a creative life that serves as a model for our students.”
Gallery 307 is located on the third floor of the art school at 270 River Road on the UGA campus. For more information, visit http://www.art.uga.edu/.