May 16, 2005 – Sylvia Bierschenk

University to open East Texas artist's exhibition

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - An exhibition of wood sculptures by East Texas artist Paul Campoli will open with a 6 to 8 p.m. reception Saturday, May 21, at The Art Center, 329 E. Main St. "Paul Campoli: Strum," a presentation of the Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and the Department of Art, will run through Sunday, June 21.

The exhibition includes 24 wood figures, ranging from five to eight feet, which Campoli made within the past seven years. The Chicago native said he fell in love with wood as a medium when he moved to Nacogdoches.

He initially chose cedar for his wood sculptures, but then switched to American holly and later tupelo. He currently works with dogwood.

The sculptor said he tries to bring out the feeling of wood without trying to suggest that the sculpture is more than a wooden figure.

Shannon Bailey, SFA art gallery director, said Campoli's work maintains a balance between reality and manipulation and between elegance and awkwardness.

A current resident at Lake Sam Rayburn, Campoli is the son of sculptors Cosmo and Catherine Campoli. He attended the University of Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology before spending three years in Arizona as John Waddell's apprentice. He won the All-City Sculpture Show in Chicago in 1973.

Campoli sells most of his work in Chicago and Arizona and would like someday to move to Houston, Austin or New York.

He will be present for the exhibition's opening which is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by Nacogdoches Junior Forum, SFA Friends of the Arts and SFA Student Government Association.

For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.