Bridgewater College Associate Professor of Art Michael Hough will exhibit “Sabbatical Works 3,” a showcase of welded metal sculptures and wall hung masks, from Aug. 23 through Sept. 22 in the Beverly Perdue Art Gallery on the main floor of the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons on the College’s campus.
The gallery is open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to midnight on Sunday. An opening reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30 at the gallery, and Hough will give an artist’s talk that night at 5:30 p.m.
Hough’s work is created from found scrap metal and explores the relationship between parts, shapes and the original function of a sculpture’s elements. As with all found objects, each piece of metal had a previous life and use. Hough likes to find ways of connecting those stories visually and uses those histories to add to the narrative of the work. Most of the pieces in this exhibition are abstract, and Hough plays with formal design concepts including line, mass, repetition, negative space and balance.
For the past 34 years, Hough has been an artist creating ceramic pottery and steel sculptures. His love of all things clay and metal began during his second year as an art student at California State University, Sacramento where he earned a B.A. and an M.A. in ceramics. After teaching high school art in Sacramento, Calif., he earned an M.F.A. in ceramics at Rhode Island School of Design. He began his teaching career at Bridgewater College in 1997 and lives with his family next to his large ceramic and sculpture studio in New Hope, Va.
Both the exhibit and opening reception/artist’s talk are free and open to the public. In keeping with guidance from the CDC, Bridgewater College requires that all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, properly wear face masks when indoors in public areas of campus.
Media Contact:
Jessica Luck
Director of Media Relations
jluck@bridgewater.edu
(540) 828-8000
