Feb. 12, 2007 -- The exhibition schedule at Arkansas State University’s Bradbury Gallery will begin the new year with “Simultaneously: The Art of Roger Carlisle and Daniel J. Reeves.” The opening reception for "Simultaneously" begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18. This bi-annual event is one in a series featuring two members from the ASU Department of Art.

In “Simultaneously,” Roger Carlisle, Professor of Art, and Daniel J. Reeves, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, work intuitively and intellectually, masterfully laying down areas of color, tricking the eye into seeing what is not there. Their works include paintings, drawings, photographs, and prints.

Carlisle’s landscape-inspired work combines confident mark-making and well-crafted compositions with somewhat minimal imagery. We smell the leaves on the ground, hear the grasses rustle, feel the damp and chilly air, but Carlisle has not painted those things. He has provided, instead, swaths of color, the illusion of space, and the sense that we have been there before.

Reeves’ work, derived from years of research, balances formal technique with theory. The effect is enjoyable both visually and intellectually. What might seem to be a straightforward use of alternating colors is, in fact, a very calculated application of a multitude of layers of paint. He charms us with his pleasing color combinations but offers us more with his deliberate visual tricks that appear in violation of natural law.

When seen together, it becomes clear that these two painters are both illusionists, not in the usual sense of producing an apparently three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface, but through a shared creative generosity that allows us to see in a new way. The joie de vivre expressed through their work is a gift to us all.

Bradbury Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact the Bradbury Gallery at 870-972-2567.

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