Texas National 2013, Patrick Graham exhibition to open April 13
March 25, 2013
Acclaimed artist Patrick Graham's "Wreath: Collateral Series" will be among the work displayed in "Patrick Graham - Thirty Years: The Silence Becomes the Painting," which opens along with Texas National 2013 at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 13, in Cole Art Center in downtown Nacogdoches.
A highlight of the evening will be the simultaneous opening of the exhibition "Patrick Graham - Thirty Years: The Silence Becomes the Painting," which includes pieces from Graham's recently critically acclaimed U.S. museum tour curated by Selz.
Texas National 2013 is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art and is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.
"SFA's annual juried competition and exhibition attracts entrants from across the nation," said John Handley, director of SFA galleries, "providing artists an opportunity to have work juried by highly acclaimed artists and critics."
Selz is a past curator at the Museum of Modern Art and founding director of the University Art Museum at Berkley. He has curated shows on Alberto Giacometti, Morris Graves and Mark Rothko and has written for many art publications. The recipient of numerous awards, he is the author of "The Art of Engagement."
Prior to the opening reception, Selz will discuss the Graham exhibition with Handley and David Lewis, professor of art history at SFA, during a 5 p.m. interview session in the upstairs Reavley Gallery, which will house the Graham exhibition through June 8.
The subject of numerous museum exhibitions, Graham has impacted artists on both sides of the Atlantic, while art critics and historians sing his praises, Handley said.
"Widely regarded as Ireland's most important contemporary artist, Graham is credited by art historians with changing the face of Irish painting with his exquisite draftsmanship and expressive layering of images and words in mixed media works on paper and monumental canvasses," he said.
Graham has been recognized by Ireland as a "Living National Treasure," according to Handley.
"With the exception perhaps of Anselm Kiefer, Patrick Graham is the only 20th century artist who can take his place among the great masters spanning the Renaissance to the present day," Selz has said.
The Graham exhibition has been provided courtesy of Jack Rutberg Fine Art, Los Angeles, Calif. The exhibition catalog will be available for sale in limited quantity. It contains color photographs of each work in the show (plus others) and contains essays by Selz, Handley and artist/writer Jarrett Earnest,
The opening reception for both Texas National 2013, now in its 19th year and featuring work by 87 artists from 30 states, and the Graham exhibition, which will feature 16 seminal pieces from the museum tour including the painting "Wreath: Collateral Series," will be in the downstairs Ledbetter Gallery. Selz will announce the Texas National competition winners at that time.
All SFA art exhibitions, receptions and gallery talks are free and open to the public. Cole Art Center hours are from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.