Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Twenty-nine prints from some of the most well-known names in modern American art are included in "Modern and Contemporary American Prints from the A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. Corporate Art Collection" which will open with a reception on Saturday, Jan. 27, in The Art Center @ The Old Opera House located at 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches.

The 6 p.m. reception celebrates the grand re-opening of Stephen F. Austin State University's newly renovated The Art Center as well as the A.G. Edwards exhibition on the first floor and "Picturing Pollock: Photographs by Hans Namuth and Martha Holmes" on the second floor. Both exhibitions are joint presentations of the SFA College of Fine Arts, School of Art and University Series.

The prints included in the A.G. Edwards show were personally selected by Dr. Bradley Bailey, SFA assistant professor of art history, and Shannon Bailey, SFA gallery director.

"The A.G. Edwards corporate collection contains more than 4000 works of art," said Dr. Bailey. "From these we chose works created by artists whom we consider to be the most historically significant. They are the people responsible for the various art movements such as pop, minimalism, photo-realism and abstract expressionism."

The signature image of the show, Robert Motherwell's "Razor's Edge," employs an artistic technique knows as the sugar-tint aqualift, which was one of Pablo Picasso's favorite methods.

Also included is Andy Warhol's "Apple," one of the 10 prints included in the pop artist's "Ads" portfolio. The print depicts Apple's classic company logo: the apple with a bite out of it, with the Macintosh name inscribed beneath it.

Another noteworthy work in the exhibition is "Flesh and Blood" by James Surls, a native of the Southwest known for his mysterious sculptures, drawings and prints. In the spring of 2005, Surls juried SFA's TEXAS NATIONAL, and the SFA School of Art exhibited "James Surls: Recent Works."

"Patrons are also probably familiar with the works of Claes Oldenburg, Alexander Calder and Roy Lichtenstein," said Shannon Bailey.

Oldenburg is the creator of large-scale sculptures such as "Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks" which was installed on the campus of Yale University, and Calder is well known for his mobiles and large-scale sculptures such as "Flamingo" which stands on the Federal Center Plaza in Chicago.

Lichtenstein is known for his use of Benday dots in his early paintings of stylized comic book scenes and later with prints that parody the styles and subjects of noted artists.

"This exhibition represents the high caliber of shows we will now be able to bring to Nacogdoches as a result of the extensive renovations completed at The Art Center," Shannon Bailey said. "And for this particular show we are grateful for the generosity of our corporate sponsor, Shannon Smith,
Financial Consultant/Vice President of Investments and Certified Financial Planner for the Nacogdoches branch office of A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc."

"I am very pleased to be able to bring this impressive collection of contemporary American art to East Texas," said Smith. "I hope that all visitors to the exhibition will enjoy this visual journey and be proud of our beautiful new downtown gallery."

Additional support for the exhibition is provided by Texas Commission on the Arts, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and SFA Friends of the Arts.

The exhibition will run through Sunday, March 25. After the opening, regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission to the opening and the gallery is free and open to the public.

For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.