ATLANTA – The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) announces the opening of Ayokunle Odeleye: Thirty-Two Years of Public Art. This retrospective exhibition, which will include models, drawings and photographs of sculpture commissioned for public spaces across the United States, represents an impressive body of work in a long career of art production by one of Georgia’s celebrated Public Art specialists. Exhibition dates are November 10, 2012 – January 12, 2013.
The opening reception for this exhibition will be on Friday, November 9, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. There will be an Artist Talk by Odeleye at MOCA GA on Friday, December 14, at 7:00 p.m. with a reception beforehand beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Artist Talk is free to the public. In addition, there will be a Public Art Panel Discussion at MOCA GA at 2pm on Saturday, January 12, 2013. The panel discussion will be moderated by Lisa Tuttle, and the panel will include Maria Artemis, Eddie Granderson, Matt Haffner, Ayokunle Odeleye, and Curtis Patterson. A full-color exhibition catalogue is being produced and will be available for purchase during the exhibition.
ABOUT “AYOKUNLE ODELEYE: THIRTY-TWO YEARS OF PUBLIC ART” EXHIBITION
Odeleye says of his thirty-two years as an artist: “I have had a long and successful career as both a professional sculptor and arts educator since receiving my BFA degree in 1973 and Masters degree in 1975 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. During that time I have passionately devoted my artistic production to the creation of large scale sculpture for public spaces. My professional accomplishment as a sculptor has been to consistently win, design and execute a major sculpture commission every other year for the past thirty-two years as well as lecture widely on the subject. My work as a Public Arts specialist and scholar in the field has been both exhilarating and challenging resulting in the creation of a unique, impressive body of work from Atlanta to Alaska.”
MOCA GA’s Director Annette Cone-Skelton “is especially excited about this exhibition as it offers the public the unique opportunity to view the many processes undertaken by a professional sculptor in the design and execution of diverse and monumental gateway structures that serve as architectural markers for community identity. She notes further that “the accompanying artist talk and panel discussion scheduled for the exhibit will offer insight into the artist’s creative process and the dynamic, ever-changing phenomena of Public Art.”
ABOUT AYOKUNLE ODELEYE
Ayokunle Odeleye is a professional sculptor who has specialized in the creation of three-dimensional art for over thirty years. He was trained at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He received a BFA Degree from Howard University in 1973 and an MFA Degree in 1975. Odeleye has consistently been teaching art since 1973. He has held teaching positions at Dunbar High School, The Duke Ellington School for the Arts, Howard University, Spelman College, Woodland Middle School, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University. His personal work involves the creation of large-scale sculpture for public environments. He works both abstractly and figuratively. He maintains two separate state-of-the-art studio facilities: one for woodworking, and another for metal fabrication. Photo requests may be made by emailing MOCA GA at [email protected].
ABOUT MOCA GA
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) collects and archives significant contemporary works by artists in the state of Georgia. To place its artists in a broader context, MOCA GA’s exhibitions also include artists from around the world. MOCA GA’s programs promote the visual arts by creating a forum for active interchange between artists and the community. MOCA GA is located at 75 Bennett Street in the TULA Art Center. Admission is free to members, $5 for non-members and $1 for students and U.S. military with ID. For more information, please call 404-367-8700, visit www.mocaga.org or email [email protected]. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday.