The gallery of the De Pree Art Center
at Hope College is opening its spring 2001 season with
"Souvenirs: recent ceramic works by Billy Mayer."

The exhibition will be on display from Saturday,
Jan. 13, through Friday, Feb. 9. There will be an opening
reception on Saturday, Jan. 13, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

 

The public is invited to both the exhibition and
the reception. Admission is free.

 

Billy Mayer is a professor of art and chair of the
department of art at Hope College. Developed during his
spring 2000 sabbatical, the body of work included in the
exhibition has its roots in an earlier endeavor. In 1993,
during a sabbatical spent in San Marcos, Texas, Mayer began
enumerating things that were "on his mind." The result was
"HEAD," an installation piece originally consisting of more
than 100 ceramic skulls with varying objects perched atop
their craniums. Seen before in various stages of
completion, "HEAD" is now exhibited in its culminating
state: 250 ceramic skulls topped with items ranging from
amplifiers to dogs to oil derricks.

 

Also included in the exhibition are new sculptural
works which juxtapose imagery drawn from Mayer's Catholic
upbringing with everyday objects and items of kitsch
culture; "souvenirs" of his travels through life.

The De Pree Art Center is located at 12th Street
and Columbia Avenue. Regular gallery hours are Monday
through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sunday from
1 p.m. until 5 p.m. The gallery is handicapped accessible.