University Communications and Marketing

January 9, 2013

Contacts:

Leanne Gilbertson, Northcutt Steele gallery director, at Leanne.gilbertson@msubillings.edu or 657-2903
Dan Carter, University Relations, 657-2269

Show runs Jan. 17 to Feb. 21; Free closing reception set for Feb. 21

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Northcutt Steele Gallery at Montana State University Billings features the work of abstract artist Corey Drieth from Jan. 17 through Feb. 21.  The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Drieth’s solo exhibition titled “Devotional” consists of gouache paintings on wood that explore contemplative religious experiences through the manipulation of line, color, texture and scale. Drieth’s seemingly minimal works create complex, meditative illusions of light and space that reward close viewing.

Drieth’s works begin with basic design and construction materials of gouache and wood. Using an economical aesthetic, Drieth creates a visual dialogue between painted surface and wooden substrate, producing a resonance that is expansively mysterious yet intimately familiar. In our media-saturated existence of de-humanizing speed, clutter, and noise, Drieth’s works — filled with stillness, quietude, and subtlety — serve as both a foil to the frenetic activity of contemporary life and a method of sustenance within it.

Drieth is an assistant professor of painting and drawing and co-director of the Visual Arts Program at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He has an active record of solo and group exhibitions and is represented by the Jen Bekman Gallery in New York.

He received his MFA from University of North Carolina and his BFA in Art and BA in Philosophy/Comparative Religious Studies from Colorado State University.

A conversation with the artist will be held on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. in the Northcutt Steele Gallery and a closing reception for the exhibition will follow from 5-7 p.m. The conversation, reception, and exhibition are all free and open to the public.

Nothcutt Steele Gallery is located on the first floor of the Liberal Arts Building on the MSU Billings four-year campus and is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information visit: www.msubillings.edu/gallery,  www.facebook.com/northcuttsteelegallery or contact Leanne Gilbertson, Northcutt Steele gallery director, at Leanne.gilbertson@msubillings.edu or (406) 657-2903.

IMAGES ABOVE: Blue Abstraction by Corey Drieth; second is Radha, a Gouache/Aquarel/Wood piece of art that was done by the artist in 2011

See also:Northcutt Steele Gallery information