Solo Exhibition, Fairfield University, Quick Center
Robert January’s Figural
Works Open at Fairfield University’s
Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery
September 16-December 6
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Aug. 17, 2009) “Art & Human Consciousness,”
a solo exhibition of paintings, drawings and photography by
internationally recognized artist Robert January opens at the
Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
at Fairfield University on Wednesday, Sept. 16 with a public
reception from 6 to 8 p. m. The artist will attend the
opening. A forty-page illustrated color catalogue including an
essay from Fairfield University Professor of art history Philip
Eliasoph accompanies the exhibition, which continues through
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. Admission to the gallery is free.
Dr. Diana Mille, Gallery director and curator of the exhibition
touched the essence of this artist’s vitality when she described
the work in “Art & Human Consciousness” thus: “January focuses
on the intimate act of drawing and its unique role in the
development of human consciousness and art making.”
Inspired by prehistoric art from the Sahara and Chihuahua
deserts, January’s profound respect for the vibrancy of the
ancient works he has visited, studied and learned from became
the impetus for his achievements. Mille sees a link between this
contemporary artist and the primitives, “Both art forms —
prehistoric and January’s — ask significant philosophical
questions: What makes drawing so distinctive and urgent? What
are the philosophical implications of drawing from life? Does
this have significant meaning and consequences outside the art
community?”
“The great prehistoric art was made by humans who understood
their subjects from the inside out,” January said. “That’s why
it feels so alive and fuels our imagination…I paint where
symbols won’t go,” he concluded. Primary in his approach to
conveying the life he sees in his models is a fusion he exhibits
in his work, “When color and form proportions are one,” he
explains, “the painting suddenly jumps alive.”
The Gallery will sponsor a conversation about the exhibition on
Thursday, Sept. 17 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. January will discuss
his work and Dr. Jean Clottes, eminent expert on cave painting
and rock art and Mille, will join him. On Friday, Oct. 23 from
12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Gallery, neurologist and author, Dr.
Frank Wilson will relate his lecture, “Coming to Grips with the
Human Hand” to January’s figural works. Admission to both events
is free.
January’s work has been exhibited by invitation each year at the
Salon d’Automne in Paris since 2004. This annual Parisian
event, first staged in 1903, was a springboard for the careers
of Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse and Maillol. Last year, January
was voted in the Salon d’Automne as a societaire or guild
member, with voting rights on how the Salon is managed.
Admission to the gallery is free. The hours are:
Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sunday: Noon to 4 p.m. Closed Monday. The gallery is
always open when performances occur at the Quick Center.
Media
Contact: Joan Grant, 203.254.4000, x2950
jgrant@fairfield.edu
www.quickcenter.com
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