Purdue Galleries to feature drawings and paintings in two solo exhibits

Robert Pruitt (Houston, TX), “Your Altitude Determines Your Attitude” (Jet Pack Piece), coffee, charcoal and mixed media on paper, 44 x 31 inches, 2015. Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University Galleries on Oct. 24 and 25 will open two new exhibits featuring individual artists’ works in large-scale drawings and landscape painting.

“Robert Pruitt: Escape Velocity” will be presented from Oct. 24 through Dec. 10 in the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in Stewart Center.

Pruitt makes drawings and sculptures about the complexity of black identity by combining contrasting signs and imagery of disparate black influences and aesthetics. He layers science fiction, hip hop, comic books, and black political and social struggles into layered portraits of his friends and community.

From 5:30-7 p.m. Nov. 10, Purdue Galleries will host a reception in Ringel Gallery with comments by the artist at 5:45 p.m. After, members of the Haraka Writers from Purdue’s Black Cultural Center will share original poems inspired by Pruitt’s drawings.

“Jean Koeller: Under the Sky” will be presented Oct. 25 through Dec. 10 in the Fountain Gallery in downtown Lafayette.

Jean Koeller (New Carlisle, OH), Reaching, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2016. Download image

Koeller takes a multifaceted approach to the subject of landscape. Utilizing this genre, Koeller aims to change how one sees the process of making art. Small paintings done en plein air inform the large-scale paintings done from memory to reveal the artist's daily and extensive studio process. Exhibiting these works together grants the viewer insight into the unique exploration the artist describes as “thoughts ... bodies of works that are on the way to something else.” The show expresses the more fluid side of art-making, allowing the process to be evident and shared.

From 5:30-7 p.m. Nov. 17, Purdue Galleries will host an opening reception in Fountain Gallery with comments by the artist.

The Robert L. Ringel Gallery is located in Stewart Center on Purdue’s main campus. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 8 p.m. on Thursday.

The Fountain Gallery is located at 330 Main Street, Lafayette, in the historic Perrin Building. The gallery is open noon to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. All Purdue Galleries exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.

For class and group visits, contact Craig Martin at Purdue Galleries at 765-494-3061. For more information, visit http://www.purdue.edu/galleries or follow @PurdueGalleries on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Contact: Craig Martin, 765-494-3061, cdmartin@purdue.edu