CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Fairbanks Gallery at Oregon State University will host an exhibition of work by photographer Kerry Skarbakka titled "On the Brink," Nov. 5-30.

An artist's talk and reception will take place in the gallery at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 17. The event is free and open to the public. 

The Fairbanks Gallery is located on the first floor of Fairbanks Hall, 220 S.W. 26th St., on OSU's Corvallis campus. It is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. the third Thursday of each month for the Corvallis Arts Walk. Admission is free.

Skarbakka is an assistant professor of art at OSU, where he teaches courses in photography and combined media. This is his first solo exhibition in Corvallis. It focuses on some of the more immediate and pressing threats to our existential stability, and is comprised of past and current projects that illustrate the scope and trajectory of Skarbakka's combined media approach to photography.

Skarbakka's work lies at the intersection of performance-based practices and staged photography. Over the past 15 years he has used his own body as a physical metaphor, addressing issues of uncertainty, war, equality, identity, politics, economy and the environment, and dedicating his artistic energies towards constructing scenarios channeled directly from the anxiety and fear associated with being human.

While the exploration of the fragilities of the human condition is a common thread in his work, Skarbakka said his goal has always been "to transform these universally difficult emotions into poetic and meaningful visual expressions."

Skarbakka currently has an exhibition at the Haifa Museum of Art in Haifa, Israel. He also has exhibited photographs in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions around the world. His work has appeared at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh; the Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles; the George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York; the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; the Aperture Foundation, New York City; and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Among Skarbakka's honors are a 2005 Creative Capital Foundation Grant, a commission from the city of Seattle through the 1 Percent for the Arts Program and an Illinois Arts Council assistance grant.

For more information visit www.skarbakka.com, and http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/school-arts-and-communication/art/fairbanks-gallery-art.

Source: 

Kerry Skarbakka, 541-737-1256, [email protected]

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