Northcutt Steele Gallery

December 10, 2015 – January 21, 2016

Reception & Artist Talk: Thurs. Jan. 21, 5pm–7pm
*Free and Open to Public*
1st Floor, Liberal Arts Building, MSUB Campus

Kayfabe is carny terminology meaning "be fake," in the sense that spectators need not be in on the truth of the illusion or hustle. The term was adopted by professional wrestling as a policy for wrestlers to not break character in order to maintain the claim of genuine sport.

Inspired by such examples of cultural fascination with the faked, Mark Earnhart's solo exhibition examines the interplay between the artificial and the genuine in commonplace circumstances and in common objects and materials. A series of minimal objects and sculptural installations respond to, and challenge, accepted ideas of the familiar and fantastical. For example, a deceptively simple particle board block reveals textured forms suggestive of unexamined complexity. 

Mark Earnhart is Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Montana State University Billings where he has taught since 2013. He received a BFA from Ohio University in 2007 and a MFA from the University of Maryland in 2013. Earnhart has exhibited nationally including, most recently, the Kind Street Gallery at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Maryland. He received numerous awards and fellowships most notably the Anwar Sadat Art for Peace Award presented by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Earnhart’s current research investigates man-made wood products and the standardization falsifying materiality.

For more information about the artist visit: http://www.markearnhart.com

The reception is catered and is free and open to the public.

The Northcutt Steele Gallery is located on the first floor of the Liberal Arts on the Montana State University Billings campus. The gallery is open Monday – Friday from 8:00am – 4:00 pm, and by appointment. For more information please visit our Facebook page. 

For media inquiries and images contact Dr. Leanne Gilbertson, Director of Northcutt Steele Gallery, leanne.gilbertson@msubillings.edu; (406) 657-2903.

Image above: Mark Earnhart, Solid Core, particle board and vinyl, 11 x 4 x 4 in, 2015. © Mark Earnhart.