'Material Minutiae' of New Orleans Artist Sally Heller at DePauw's Peeler Center, Aug. 24 - Dec. 4

August 10, 2005

Also: 'Figures of Thinking: Convergences in Contemporary Cultures,' September 14-December 4 ; 'Vignettes: Paintings by Leeah Joo,' October 5-November 6

August 10, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - A commissioned large-scale, sculptural installation created by New Orleans-based artist Sally Heller opens at DePauw University's Richard E. Peeler Art Center at DePauw University on August 24, 2005. The following afternoon, from 4 to 6 p.m., the artist will present a gallery talk at an opening reception. All events associated with the exhibition, "Sally Heller: Material Minutiae," which runs through December 4, are free and open to the public. (at left and below right: (at right: Hanging by a Thread (detail), 2004, mixed media, photo courtesy of Neil Alexander)

Sally Heller creates unique structures that are at once familiar and strange by presenting mass-produced, disposable objects in unusual contexts. Through a process of subtle twists and turns she strips everyday detritus and disposable, low-end consumer goods of their original use-value, recycling them into organic forms that are repositioned in room-size installations, creating bizarre landscapes from the generic and proliferous discards of our disposable lifestyles. Fascinated by the poetics of contradictions, oxymorons and double entendres, Heller is less interested in her work’s inherent commentary on consumerism, waste and ecology than she is in seeing humor in our world’s plasticized realities.

Amused by the comedy of making fine art from the most mundane of materials, Heller states: “I have always been fascinated with the potential of mass-marketed products when viewed outside of their intended context. When making words or images out of these materials, I play on the ironies inherent in the medium…I am interested in what our culture discards and what can be made from this detritus…” Using wit as a tool for political commentary, Heller transforms weak, mundane materials into strong, solid forms and meaningful visual statements that confront perceptions of femininity, the temporality of art and culture, and the state of modern society, albeit in an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek manner.

Sally Heller has exhibited at the Contemporary Center for the Arts (Atlanta), the Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans), Socrates Sculpture Park (Brooklyn), as well as Art in General and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (New York). She holds an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (1980) as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1978).

The galleries at the Richard E. Peeler Art Center are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Sunday 1-5 p.m. For more information, call the gallery information line at (765) 658-4882 or visit the Peeler Art Center galleries online by clicking here to learn more about special events associated with this exhibition.

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