The Murray State University Galleries and the Department of Art & Design are pleased to announce Illumination: The Sculpture of James O. Clark, curated by T. Michael Martin, Director of University Galleries. Show dates for Illumination are August 17 through September 17, 2021 in the Clara M. Eagle Upper Gallery on the Seventh Floor of the Doyle Fine Arts Building. The exhibit will travel to be on view October 1 through 29, 2021, at the UT Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee. ABOUT THE ARTIST: James O. Clark is a sculptor and professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, New York, who is inspired by properties of light and uses electricity, electrical components, various light sources, and found objects to create his work. He lives/works in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. ABOUT THE WORK: About the works in Illumination, art critic Jonathan Lipincott writes: “The works in this exhibition were created from 1993 to 2020 and present a broad range of Clark’s investigations of light, color, and form. The different materials that Clark uses as a companion to the light source of each work create a range of experiences of transparency and opacity, and reveal the ways that color changes as it reflects off of or passes through these materials. “Clark’s works are illuminating in every sense of the word. His sculptures create environments; the light of each work interacts with the whole space, the other sculptures, and with you, the viewer. As you’re looking, you can become more attuned to your own experience of seeing. Observe the colors that appear when, for instance, green light meets a white wall, or a red shirt, or a blue knapsack; the colors that reflect off a nearby work, shining on metal or plastic or balloons. This act of discovery can only happen with time, and it’s a physical as well as mental experience. As you move around the work, looking at it from different angles, the light is in constant interaction with every object and every surface around it. The sculptures await your participation.” An artist talk by Clark will take place at a later date. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended hours to be announced on Tuesday and Thursday. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Pamela Parker at 270-809-3784.