UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State School of Visual Arts (SoVA) is pleased to announce a visit by Chicago-based artist Matthew Groves as part of its John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series. Groves is known for his technically advanced ceramic artwork and his impressive feats as a design technician. Free and open to the public, Groves’ lecture will take place at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 8, at the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium. For an entire listing of John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series events, visit https://sova.psu.edu/anderson-lecture-events.
Groves, originally from England, is a ceramic artist whose technically impressive and lushly surfaced work addresses the concepts of dualism and metamorphosis, often walking the boundary between vessel and sculptural object. Groves’ exhibition this April at Gallery Uno in Chicago, “Harvest,” dealt with the aftermath of 9/11 and a call for a peaceful revolution in response to the distrust, violence, war and hatred that resulted from the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Groves is also well known for his work as a design technician, especially for his work with the Field Museum Chicago, reconstructing the fossil remains of “Sue,” the world’s largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimen. He has both exhibited and assisted or supervised production in museums and galleries internationally. With more than 20 years of undergraduate-level teaching experience, Groves is currently an assistant professor of fine art, teaching ceramics at Loyola University in Chicago. Groves received his bachelor of art from Staffordshire University, and his master of arts (master of fine arts equivalent) from the Royal College of Art in London.
The Penn State School of Visual Arts John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series was established in 2001 through the generous support of John M. Anderson, Penn State Professor Emeritus. The result of Anderson’s love of the philosophy of art and painting, his endowment contributes to the creative and intellectual life of the campus. The series sponsors leading artists and scholars who lecture, give master classes and workshops, and critique student work throughout the academic year. Anderson, an Evan Pugh Research Professor of Philosophy, was a long-time faculty member and three-time department head in the Department of Philosophy and the first director of Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
Lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information please contact Ann Tarantino, John M. Anderson Lecture Series Coordinator, at adt116@psu.edu or Tammy Hosterman, SoVA communications coordinator at tmk7@psu.edu.