Southeastern’s Contemporary Art Gallery is set to host an exhibition for artist Jonathan Pellitteri on Thursday, September 3 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event will be held in Southeastern’s East Stadium Annex Contemporary Art Gallery. 

Exhibitions featuring new gallery work are presented each month. This event is free and open to all students as well as the public; free food and drinks will be served.

Each piece of art has been carefully considered for display and to provide the viewer a sense of integration into the art. 

“Every square inch of his sculptures have been thoughtfully considered,” said interim head of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and Gallery director Dale Newkirk. “He goes from life sized, imagined spaces and scale models all in the same piece. You can imagine being in these sculptures.” 

For this exhibit, Pellitteri’s art will feature the use of mediums such as industrial structures, furniture, wood and metal in both life size and miniature representations.

Newkirk encourages students to visit Pellitteri’s gallery. 

“Students may get a lot out of innovative sculptures and detail,” said Newkirk. 

Newkirk believes that seeing art in person allows viewers to compare one artwork to another and witness the journey that an artist takes.

Pellitteri was born in Canton, Massachusetts. He gathers his inspiration from his father’s career as an architect and growing up with a background in construction. Some of his inspirations have been an investigation of the environment, detailed landscapes and a curiosity about the way that humans extract natural resources.

Pellitteri says that moving to Louisiana in 2004 has been another source of inspiration for him. Through the finding of this inspiration, Pellitteri has dedicated time to connect water and culture. 

“Moving here at 23 years old made me notice how interconnected the culture was with water, in every aspect,” said Pellitteri.

He wants viewers to come with the anticipation to be curious and investigate small details. The audience is expected to interpret the pieces themselves, find meaning in them and draw their own conclusions. 

“My job is to guide them in a certain direction by giving them an idea as a concept or title,” said Pellitteri. 

For more information on Pellitteri, visit his website at www.jonathanpellitteri.com. To learn more about upcoming events at the Contemporary Art Gallery, call 985-549-5080 or visit the Southeastern website.