November 11 – December 16, 2007
Tarble Arts Center
Eastern Illinois University

Opening Reception &
Conversation with the Artist
Sunday, November 11, 2-4 pm

This temporary work of art was created directly on the walls of the eGallery by Alvarez, and is one of two original works being commissioned as part of this year’s Contemporary Currents series and to commemorate the Tarble Arts Center’s 25th anniversary year of 2007-2008. The series explores new and evolving visual arts forms. It is co-sponsored with the EIU Art Department and funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

The Alvarez exhibition was largely influenced by the work of internationally known artist Sol LeWitt, who died earlier this year, and conversations Alvarez had with LeWitt. LeWitt came to be known for his “wall drawings,” and sometimes is identified with the Minimal Art movement that developed in the 1960s. In an exhibition catalogue New York's Museum of Modern Art’s Curator of Drawings, Bernice Rose, wrote that LeWitt’s innovative work of drawing directly on walls "was as important for drawing as Pollock's use of the drip technique had been for painting in the 1950s." Alvarez was also influenced by autobiographic memories and experiences.

Titled an “intervention” by Alvarez, the artist both utilized and worked around the architectural features of the eGallery. More than a mural and not really an installation, Tossing Pennies creates an environment that is both seen and entered by the viewer. The effect is similar to LeWitt’s all encompassing Wall Drawings. Making up the intervention is an animated projection, framed paintings, paintings and drawings done directly on the eGallery walls, and a cut paper/mixed media collage also done directly on the walls, doors and windows.

A website that documents and augments Tossing Pennies is being developed as part of the project with artist Aaron Henderson. The URL address will be announced when the site is up. The site will include an essay by Terry R. Myers. Myers writes reviews for Modern Painters and Art Review, plus numerous catalogue essays.

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