Aurora University Art Exhibit To Open Sept. 9

AURORA, Ill. - “not for the season,” an art exhibit featuring the work of Tyler Hennings, Monmouth College assistant professor of art, will be presented at Aurora University Sept. 9-6.

"jalapeno jelly & a marble," an oil on canvas, is among artworks by Tyler Hennings in "not for the season," an exhibit Sept. 9-Nov. 6 at Aurora University's Dunham Gallery in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hennings is assistant professor of art at Monmouth College. The exhibition is free to the public. Call (630) 844-7843 for more information.

The display of oil painting on canvas is free to the public. Aurora University’s Dunham Gallery is in Dunham Hall at 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora.

The public is invited to meet Hennings at an opening reception from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept.9, at the gallery. A lecture by Hennings will follow the reception. Refreshments will be served.

The exhibition opens AU’s 2008-2009 Celebrating Arts and Ideas series, 21 free art, film, theatre, music and lecture events.

Hennings chooses banal subjects that have a sense of humor and warmth, painting them on a large scale.

Meg Bero, executive director of the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures, said, ‘”not for the season”’ is a show that indulges us in the pure joy of painting.

“We are immersed, aided by the chosen sizes of the canvases, in color and the movement of brush strokes. Hennings invokes a strong sense of memory, both personal and shared.”

Bero added that Hennings’ work is about the act of looking, the process of painting, and the foundations of art. He seeks to create a dialogue between representation and abstraction through carefully observed reality.

Hennings has directed Monmouth College’s gallery since 2006. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Western Illinois University and a master’s degree in fine arts from Northern Illinois University.

Arts and Ideas Series sponsors are: Nicor, Gold sponsor; City of Aurora, Harris Aurora, Human Resource Management Systems, LLC, Old Second Bank, and Sodexo, Silver sponsors; BFC and Sikich, Bronze sponsors. Media support is provided by The Beacon News and Comcast.

For information about the series, call (630) 844-4924 or e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu .

Dunham Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Call (630) 844-7843 for more information.

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