BOSTON UNIVERSITY PRESENTS
10-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE OF PAINTER HUGH O'DONNELL

Exhibition on view from November 23, 2002 to February 2, 2003 at the 808 Gallery

BOSTON-Boston University presents Hugh O'Donnell: Paintings and Drawings, 1992-2002, a ten-year retrospective of the British and American artist. The artist has had numerous one-man shows in New York and throughout the U.S., with work in major collections including The Metropolitan Museum, New York; The National Gallery, Washington D.C.; The Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art, New York. This is his first solo exhibition in Boston.

Hugh O'Donnell: Paintings and Drawings is on view from November 23, 2002 to February 2, 2003 at Boston University's 808 Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, December 3 from 6 to 8pm. Other public events include an Artist's Talk by O'Donnell on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 at 1pm.
The exhibition is divided into two sections. Half of the 11,250 square foot exhibition space will focus on O'Donnell's studio paintings and drawings. The other half of the exhibition will highlight Selections from the Body Echo™ Project, an ongoing study by the artist that explores growth and regeneration through a series of monumental works on paper.

Studio works presented in the exhibition highlight a period of maturation and reconciliation in which O'Donnell's practices as a professional artist and as a teacher have become intertwined. The two practices are grounded in a study of nature, and in particular, growth dynamics. Begun during a two-year fellowship in Japan, this study has expanded to examine the ways an impression of the world is recreated in art-not by replication-but by creating symbolic forms that is a reflective, dynamic patterning of our perceptions.

Selections from the Body Echo™ Project features a series of monumental paper works. As part of its presentation in the 808 Gallery, the Body Echo™ Project will have a high school workshop component called Growing Things™. In a series of daylong workshops, students from different area schools will create works on paper, depicting studies of growth structures found in common vegetables and fruit. Art works created by the students will be added to the exhibition-creating a living and growing exhibit-throughout its run.

A sixty-four page full-color exhibition catalogue, with an essay on O'Donnell written by legendary modernist art critic Dore Ashton, and an interview with the artist by Financial Times art critic Clare Henry, accompanies the exhibition.

Hugh O'Donnell has been a professor of painting at Boston University College of Fine Arts' School of Visual Arts since 1998. He is an internationally recognized artist exhibiting regularly since 1975 with one-person and group shows presented at many prestigious venues.

O'Donnell's work is held in many private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York; Rose Art Museum, MA; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Denver Museum of Art; Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Yokohama Museum of Art Japan; Polk Museum of Art, Florida; Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Arts, CT; London Contemporary Arts Society; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Arts Council of Great Britain; British Council, U.K.

The 808 Gallery at Boston University is located at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Admission is free and open to the public. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10am-5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1-5pm. For public information call 617/358-0922.

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Editor's note: Images available upon request, contact Elly Muller at 617/353-7293

Hugh O'Donnell: Paintings and Drawings, 1992-2002
November 23, 2002 to February 2, 2002
808 Gallery at Boston University
808 Commonwealth Avenue
Admission is free and open to the public.
Hours: Tuesday- Friday, 10am- 5pm
Saturday and Sunday, 1-5pm
Information: 617/358-0922