Lincoln, MA, March 10, 2015–DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed artist Alyson Shotz will give the 2015 Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture on Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 pm, in the Tower Auditorium at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). The public is invited to attend this free lecture. Seating is on a first come first serve basis.
Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs Jennifer Gross notes: “It is an honor for deCordova and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design to host Alyson Shotz as the 2015 Paul J. Cronin Memorial lecturer. Her innovative work has transformed the field of sculpture and her ability to translate such mysteries as space, time, gravity, and light into physical form is a remarkable gift.”
Fascinated by the physics of the natural world, Shotz makes work that explores phenomena often considered inscrutable. She renders mathematical and molecular structures on a monumental scale using synthetic materials such as glass beads, stainless steel, and mirrors. Shotz’s sculptures are intricate, ethereal, and responsive to their site. Changes in light, time of day, and viewing angle all affect the perception of her work: surfaces become distinctly material or dissolve, forms become incredibly voluminous or condense. Shotz’s work evokes a bodily response and encourages a physical awareness of perception and place.
Shotz herself describes: “I am compelled by mystery… The mystery of the forces of nature: the forces that comprise the structure of basically everything we know and experience… As a sculptor I feel I should be investigating these basic forces to the best of my ability because they shape our entire physical and mental experience of life… I believe very strongly that materials have something to tell us about the physical world.”
The subject of Alyson Shotz’s Cronin Lecture will be an overview of her work, including her hanging sculpture Spiral (for LB), which was recently on display in deCordova’s Sculpture Park during summer 2014.
About the Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture
The Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture series was established in 1981 to consider topics broadly focused on changing attitudes towards twentieth and twenty-first century art. The Cronin Lecture series is made possible by a generous grant to deCordova from the Grover J. Cronin Memorial Foundation.
About the Artist
Alyson Shotz received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. She is a recipient of two Pollock Krasner Awards (1999, 2010); the Saint Gaudens Memorial Fellowship (2007); and was the Happy and Bob Doran Artist in Residence at the Yale University Art Gallery (2005–2006). In 2012, Shotz was the Sterling Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University. Her work is in many public collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; High Museum of Art, GA; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA. Shotz currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
About deCordova
Established in 1950 and located 20 miles west of Boston, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is dedicated to fostering the creation and exploration of contemporary sculpture and art through a dynamic slate of rotating exhibitions, innovative learning opportunities, a constantly changing 30-acre landscape of large-scale, outdoor, contemporary sculpture, and site-specific installations.
General Information
DeCordova is located at 51 Sandy Pond Road in Lincoln, MA. DeCordova’s summer hours (Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day weekend) are every day, 10 am to 5 pm. DeCordova’s winter hours (beginning after Columbus Day weekend) are Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission: $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students (ages 13 and up), and free for children 12 and under. Members, Lincoln residents, and active duty military personnel and their families are admitted free with proper ID. Public Museum tours (free with admission) are offered Thursday and Sunday at 2 pm, and First Free Wednesdays 1 pm. Public Sculpture Park tours (free with admission) are offered Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm. Visit decordova.org or call 781.259.8355 for further information.
Alyson Shotz: Spira
MASSART Massachusetts College of Art and Design
621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
+1 (617) 879-7000
massart.edu
