POMONA -- Kirk Pedersen's artistic
vision goes far beyond the physical boundaries of his
Diamond Bar home.
The professional artist and arts' educator recently returned
from three months traveling through, teaching and lecturing
in China and Southeast Asia. He also channeled his creative
energies into sketching images and taking photographs
of the people, traditions and adventures he discovered
in Asia.
The photographs, paintings and watercolors created during
his sojourn are displayed in "Do Not Enter,"
an October exhibition at the Cal Poly Pomona Downtown
Center in the Pomona Arts Colony.
George Cuttress, the exhibition's curator, said the show
is a fine way to introduce colony creative forces and
Inland Valley residents to the rich artistic palate of
the newest artist in the Second Street arts' community.
A closing reception will be held at the Cal Poly gallery
from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Pedersen's new studio/gallery
is expected to open in November.
Pedersen attended Arizona State University at Tempe and
the University of Colorado at Boulder before completing
a bachelor of fine arts at Midland College, a master's
in painting at San Francisco State University and a master's
of fine arts at Claremont Graduate University.
His MFA in painting was completed with a Karl Benjamin
Painting Fellowship.
Pedersen is considered one of America's leading urban
artist-photographers, concentrating on the spontaneity
of letting art evolve from unique interactions with diversely
distinctive people and places, Cuttress claimed.
Nothing is ugly or mundane in Pedersen's world of artistic
thought and creativity, the curator added.
"Scenes and surfaces reflect change and offer a history
and a type of beauty that is not replicated with newer
elements within the city," Pedersen said about his
focus on urban environments and common details. "It
is not my mission to alter how people see their environment,
but I wish to constantly be aware of what it offers."
He has traveled to China six times in two years, teaching,
lecturing and leisurely photographing the constant changes
taking place in the world's most populous country.
His goal, however, goes beyond merely documenting change
and conditions, he contended.
"As I walk the streets, I photograph everything that
my eye regards as interesting. Sometimes it is ironic,
dynamic, lyrical, gritty or just captivating intuitively,"
Pedersen asserted. "The work does not focus on politics
or social issues, but many people can read into th pieces
what they wish.
"The works capture ephemeral moments of life,"
he continued. "They are often about change. I visually
scan, select and create art about the realities of city
life, works based on walking the streets."
Pedersen's extensive devotion to arts education began
as a studio instructor at UC Berkeley in 1985. He has
subsequently served as an art professor, guest lecturer
and visiting artist at several institutions, including
Mt. San Antonio College, Claremont's Petterson Museum
of Intercultural Arts, Pennsylvania College of Technology,
the Phoenix Art Organization in Long Beach and Oklahoma
State University.
He has additionally served in similar educational and
artistic roles in China at Shenyang's Luxun Academy of
Fine Arts, Dalian Polytechnic University, Guangzhou Academy
of Fine Arts, Shanghai Institute of Visual Art and Beijing's
Tsinghua University.
Pedersen's works have been featured in one-person and
group exhibitions at major galleries, art schools and
museums and included in private and corporate collections
in the United States, China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan,
Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Brazil.
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