CSLA Inaugurates First Alumni Art Exhibition

The first Cal State L.A. Alumni Art Exhibition, January 8 through February 9, 1996, reveals the impact Cal State L.A. alumni have made on the visual arts scene. Twelve artists working in a broad spectrum of media will be represented at this exhibition in the Fine Arts Gallery of the Luckman Fine Arts Complex, the dramatic new complex that is the gateway to the north side of campus. A special artists' reception will be held for alumni on Saturday, January 13, 1996, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The exhibition is curated by artists Shirley Cannon ('92 M.F.A.) and Rebecca Edwards ('92 M.F.A.), whose works are also included. Other alumni artists are: Kim Dingle ('88 B.F.A.) has exhibited paintings in the National Museum of American Art of The Smithsonian, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and galleries and museums from the Newport Harbor Art Museum to the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Robert Gero ('88 M.A.), whose Xenographia Nomadia video installation was featured in the prestigious Venice Biennale in 1993, has also been highlighted in exhibits in New York and Los Angeles (his work is "so powerful that it transforms the concrete floor into a permeable membrane," wrote a Los Angeles Times reviewer in 1992); Jack Butler ('70 B.A., '72 M.A.), a photographer whose works are included in collections around the world including those of the Georges Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture in Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Aaron Spelling Collection, is an associate professor in the Art Department at Cal State L.A.; the installations, mixed media assemblages and fiber art of Jae Hwa Yoo (M.F.A. '93) have been praised in exhibitions around the world; Jay McCafferty ('71 B.A.) has exhibited works at the Smithsonian, Baxter Art Gallery, and a long list of other important exhibition spaces; Joseph Chapuk ('91 M.A.,'93 M.F.A.) is currently exhibiting widely on the East Coast; Tony Pinto ('92 M.F.A.) had his show, Anonymous Portraits, rated one of the ten best shows of 1993 by Coagula, a journal that reports on the Los Angeles and New York art scenes; Frank Gutierrez ('90 M.A., '91 M.F.A.), winner of numerous prizes and art competitions, is represented in the collections of Absolut Vodka's CEO Michel Roux, Charlton Heston and more than 60 other institutions and private collections; Malcom Mooney ('87 M.A.), musician and visual artist, who "intensifies rhythmic energies" in his two- and three-dimensional work; Barbara Wallis Kerwin ('89 M.A.), Helen B. Dooley Art Fellow Award recipient, completes the roster of outstanding contributors to this exhibition.

A full-color catalogue containing essays and biographical material will be printed as a lasting celebration of this event, with essays by alumni Laura Meyer ('92 M.F.A.), J.S.M. Willette ('90 B.A.) and Mat Gleason ('88-'92), founder and editor of Coagula. The experience of all this energy and talent together in one place on opening night is not to be missed. Join friends, faculty, students and fellow alumni on January 13 for this extraordinary beginning of a tradition to celebrate the talent and achievement of Cal State L.A. students past, present and future.

And while you are on campus, attend the concert of our esteemed Visiting Artists, the Anderson Quartet. Enjoying their second year with Cal State L.A. and the Department of Music, the members of this young chamber ensemble have thrilled the campus with their music and their charm. Receptions for alumni will be hosted by the Alumni Association, the School of Arts and Letters and the Luckman. Call the Alumni Relations Office at (323) 343-4980.