Newswise — Jonathan Pellitteri, the 2008 James Rosenquist Artist in Residence at North Dakota State University, Fargo, has been awarded the International Sculpture Center (ISC) Sculpture Residency in Switzerland with sculptor Heinz Aeschlimann. Pellitteri was selected through a competitive process to participate with Aeschlimann and his wife Gertrud, art advocate, collector and art patron in an inter-cultural experience. The program is designed to allow the selected sculptor up to six weeks with Mr. and Mrs. Aeschlimann at their home/studio in Zofingen, Switzerland. The residency will provide an opportunity to work directly with Heinz Aeschlimann at his studio. Additionally, the Aeschlimanns will provide support in the creation of Pellitteri's work while in residence. The experience will culminate with an exhibition of work created by Pellitteri during the residency.
At the end of his residency, Pellitteri will write an article about his experience to be published in Sculpture magazine's Insider (ISC Member newsletter) and on the ISC Website, http://www.sculpture.org. It is an honor to receive this award for emerging artist.
As the current James Rosenquist Artist in Residence at NDSU, Pellitteri is spending the semester interacting with students, holding public lectures and opening his studio to visitors. His focus as a sculptor is to reach the public with works representing his observations of the world around him. Using his experiences as a mason and carpenter, Pellitteri handles various mediums and processes to introduce new materials and methods into his work. According to Pellitteri, his goal is not to be the impetus for global change, but to quietly intrigue viewers with his sculptures and impart a curiosity of the objects that fill lives and inspire individual evaluations of how they are influenced by them. An exhibit of Pellitteri's works will be held at the NDSU Downtown Gallery, Fargo, April 8-24, 2008.
Pellitteri received his master of fine arts degree in studio art at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He holds a bachelor's of fine arts degree in sculpture from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. His travels have included study abroad in Cortona, Italy. Pellitteri's work has been exhibited in The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
The James Rosenquist Artist in Residency Program for Visual Arts at NDSU honors James Rosenquist. Born in Grand Forks, N.D., Rosenquist is considered one of the greatest living artists of the Pop Art movement of North America. His work and career are internationally known. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from North Dakota State University in May 2005.
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