GRANVILLE -- Long-time Denison University faculty member George Bogdanovitch will have the first show of 2003 at the University's Art Gallery in Burke Hall, showing a new series of paintings -- "Pushing It." A reception for the artist is set for 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 17) and is free and open to the public. Music will be provided by the Tom Carroll Quintet. The show will run through Sunday, Feb. 16 with the gallery (240 West Broadway) open daily from 1 to 4 p.m.

George Bogdanovitch

"Pushing It" has been two years in the making and Bogdanovitch says he has returned to the "abstract expressionist" movement, drawing some of his inspiration from artists such as Jackson Pollock, DeKooning, Rothko, Kline and Motherwell. He has used large canvases and employed paint in a spontaneous and expressive manner with the use of large brushes.

"Historically, the process lent a degree of energy and force to paintings," says Gallery Director Lee Hanford. "In fact, the rapid, intuitive method was considered as important as the painting itself. In producing these large canvases, Bogdanovitch, like those involved with abstract expressionism before him, has applied paint in an unconventional way so that the medium can become one of the key viewer considerations."

"Representing the world around us was not an issue for abstract expressionists and has not been a concern for Bogdanovitch while working on these new acrylic paintings," Hanford concludes.

Bogdanovitch, who has had numerous shows in the University's Gallery (Antarctica Series, Requiem, New Works, Giant Postcards), is associated with the R. H. Love Galleries in Chicago and has had exhibitions of his work there and in New York, Boulder, Los Angeles, Dayton and Toledo in years past. His works are included in numerous corporate and private collections. A graduate of Rutgers University, Bogdanovitch earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa and previously served on the faculty of the University of Arkansas, Cedar Crest College (Pa.), Bowling Green State University and Washington State University. He joined the Denison faculty in 1972.

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