Peter Beasecker, an associate professor, is a renowned teacher and is widely recognized for his artistic talent.
Currently, Beasecker is the featured artist in “Peter Beasecker: Recent Work,” a showing in Hughes-Trigg’s Pollock Gallery. The show displays his pieces of cups in “carriers” made of stoneware and porcelain that are meant to depict the “importance of communal experience,” according to Philip Van Keuren, director of the Division of Art’s Pollock Gallery.
Beseacker is the recipient of a Ford Fellowship in order to further his research in the field of sculpture and ceramics. He has also earned many acknowledgments since his SMU career started in 1992 and is recognized internationally. He has contributed to many private and public exhibitions including the Renwick gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, The Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Mint Museum in North Carolina.
“Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, Beaseaker’s recent work seems indebted to the values, communal histories and familial social bonds of the Midwest,” said Van Keuren.
The purpose of the art is unique as it speaks to the idea of the Midwest, holding Beasecker’s familial roots. Suburbia and the idea of a close-knit social network created by a neighborhood or community are very much a part of the feelings meant to be revoked.
Many contemporary artists today strive for originality as it is sometimes difficult to stand out in the modern art world because of common abstract taste. However, Beasecker’s originality is much more than out of the ordinary. Van Keuren said, “originality and invention appear not as fashion or merely ‘aesthetic’ phenomenon, but as evidence of beliefs for Beasecker.”
The pieces in the exhibit were made especially for the Pollock Gallery showing with specific height requirements. The cups and carriers in his showcase were made with a short height so the exhibition’s audience can feel as if the art is at table height. The reactions of the spectators are what make his pieces what they are. By having a short height, one can experience, for example, a dinner table, which is symbolic of a familial gathering.
Although Beasecker’s pieces seem very fragile and decorative, his cups are meant to be functional. In fact, “it’s essential to [Beasecker] that they be used… in a way that is commensurate with their use,” said Van Keuren.
Beasecker’s work is inspiring to students “he wants you to pick up the pieces and touch them…to feel their texture,” said junior art minor Rebecca Rosfeld.
“Peter Beasecker: Recent Work” began Oct. 25, and is showing through Dec. 4. The Pollock Gallery is located on the second floor of Hughes-Trigg Student Center. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call (214)768-4439.