Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture

When:
August 31, 2017 – September 21, 2017 all-day
2017-08-31T00:00:00-05:00
2017-09-22T00:00:00-05:00
Where:
Delta State University's Fielding Wright Art Center
1003 W Sunflower Rd
Cleveland, MS 38733
USA
Cost:
Free
Contact:
Michaela Merryday
662-846-4720
Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture @ Delta State University's Fielding Wright Art Center  | Cleveland | Mississippi | United States

Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture
Delta State University’s Fielding Wright Art Center opens its 2017-2018 season on Thursday, August 31st with Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture, an exhibition celebrating the career of the art department’s recently retired chair.
Ron Koehler has taught at Delta State University for thirty-five years and served as chair of the art department for more than a decade. He retired this past summer as Professor and Chair Emeritus. During his long and distinguished career, Ron Koehler participated in over 500 regional, national, and international exhibitions, received countless awards, and saw his work enter the permanent collections of museums and galleries across the nation.
The retrospective, opening on August 31st, offers a rare opportunity to glimpse the astonishing breadth of Koehler’s artistic pursuits, the subject matter that has occupied him, and the variety of media he has employed. The artist acknowledges that a casual visitor might get the impression that the work in this exhibition was created by more than one artist. According to the artist what connects all of his work is his interest in exploration: “Exploration of shape, form, media, color, texture, concept and genre. Exploration of technique, movement, scale, iconography, purpose and activism. Exploration of personal goals. Exploration of time and place. Exploration of fear, and exploration of the absurd.” His explorations of a subject matter or the possibilities of a medium often lead him to work in series. This retrospective includes a number of these series such as the humorous Balanced Diet series, various series of tools, and examples from his famous Brush series which numbers in the hundredths.
Another connecting element is the artist’s wonderful sense of humor. It is the structuring element in the Balanced Diet series which consists of an assortment of cholesterol heavy food items, but manifests itself in a more subtle way in his use of materials as in a recycled column that becomes the base of a figure or a piece of drift wood that is transformed into a brush. It also manifests itself in the delight Koehler takes in visual puns as when a piece of wood is manipulated in excess to fool the eye into thinking it is a Styrofoam cup, wood shavings come to simulate the bread crumbs on a fried chicken leg, and a perspective drawing is encased in a frame rendered in perspective.
Looking back at his career thus far, Koehler remarked: “I’m not sure if I made the choice to devote my life to creating art or if the choice was made for me long before I was born by some cosmic combustion I was never privy to. What I can say for absolute certain is that art and the creation of it has defined my life in immeasurable ways. This exhibition, I hope, will document the trip thus far.” We are looking forward to seeing where it will take him next.
Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture will run from August 24th to September 21st, 2017. Ron Koehler generously donated all proceeds from the sale of artworks on display in this retrospective to the foundation of the Salley/Koehler Community College Scholarship Fund at Delta State University.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, August 31st from 5:00-7:00 pm. Regular gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on weekends, holidays, and during semester breaks.
For further information visit the DSU Art Department’s website at http://www.deltastate.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/art/ or contact 662.846.4720. For updates and announcements of upcoming events follow Delta State Art Department on Facebook or join our email list.