FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     MEDIA CONTACT:  Matthew Lindsay

April 30, 2003                                     (202) 994-1423; mlindsay@gwu.edu

GW’S DIMOCK GALLERY PRESENTS CUATRO,

A MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS SHOW

MAY 7 – 23

EVENT:                    “Cuatro,” an exhibition of selected thesis works from four Master of

                                  Fine Arts (MFA) candidates Joseph Jones, Frederick Markham,

                                  Akiko Nishijima and David Woodin, presented by The George

                                  Washington University Dimock Gallery.

WHEN:                   Exhibition Dates: Wednesday, May 7, through Friday, May 23,

                                 2003                

                                 Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Thursday 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.;

                                                        Friday 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

WHERE:                 The George Washington University                                  

                                 Dimock Gallery, Lisner Auditorium – Lower level                          

                                 730 21^st Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro,

                                 Blue and Orange lines)

COST:                     Free and open to the public.

BACKGROUND:

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1964 serve as inspiration to MFA thesis candidate and designer Joseph Jones. As a designer, Jones creates artwork to raise awareness of problems that are damaging and affecting the emotional nerve system of society. His graphic designs are collages of emotion, of people who have seen “life.” He asks his viewers to take a journey through reality and see with the “eyes of life.” 

Frederick Markham’s images are mysterious, striking a chord that resonates within the artist. In the artist’s words, “I have gotten into pipes. I am interested in the mystery of them, what’s inside them, what they move, what they are transferring from one thing to another. I have taken this metaphor and used it in such a way that I am now making large paintings of factory or industrial-like imagery.”

Ceramic mosaics by Akiko Nishijima capture the essence of human emotion. Larger than life, these depictions of the human face emit a “tonal scream.” To paraphrase the artist, the broken shards of the ceramics are like the shards of people’s lives. Pain, suffering, anger and humanity are all collected into one piece to form a whole, but in essence the pieces are always broken, like the hearts and lives of people who have lived through devastating catastrophes such as war.

For artist David Woodin, clay is a plastic, living material. His artwork is created to be used, and he equates viewer with user. By displaying his dinnerware sets as functional items, Woodin conveys the human touch in both the creation of the works and the manner in which they are employed.

For more information, call GW’s University Art Galleries at (202) 994-1525.

For more news about GW, visit the GW News Center at www.gwnewscenter.org.

-GW-