For Immediate Release
Wiegand Gallery
Notre Dame de Namur University
1500 Ralston Avenue
Belmont, CA 94002
Contacts: Sheila Longacre
650-508-3595
artgallery@ndnu.edu

Notre Dame de Namur University’s Wiegand Gallery Presents:

Hank Pitcher Paintings: A 40-Year Survey

BELMONT, California, March 2013 – The Wiegand Gallery is presenting “Hank
Pitcher Paintings: A 40-Year Survey” March 15th through April 20th.

The Wiegand Gallery at Notre Dame de Namur University is proud to present
paintings by Hank Pitcher. Pitcher is a renowned and prolific artist and
professor at UCSB’s College of Creative studies. The exhibition represents a forty-
year search for an authentic vocabulary to describe life in Southern California. The
reductive quality of his flattened shapes and un-modulated colors recall the realism
of Edward Hopper and abstraction of Fairfield Porter. Pitcher worked early on with
Paul Wonner, painting representationally in an avant-garde context. In every work,
Pitcher endeavors to compose a picture so that it seems "effortless" or even "obvious." Said the artist, "The challenge and the desire is to make a genuine, truthful statement." Considered primarily a landscape painter, Pitcher is equally well versed in painting the figure. The exhibition also features several of his paintings on ceramic vessels.

Hank Pitcher is the voice of California culture. At the beach, in the surf, approaching
the foothills, in the mountains, on the spit of Point Conception, in the crags
of Big Sur, at a beach campfire in Santa Barbara, Pitcher paints the icons of
California's culture. Pitcher's painting and teaching has influenced many younger
artists. Beginning in the 1970s, the surfboards and surfers in his work were ahead
of the wave of surf related art in the contemporary art world. But beyond beach culture, his paintings are about the remaining wild stretches of California coast. Pitcher has marked the seasons of this mythic landscape for over 40 years. This survey samples the artist’s vision of a bright, powerful and private California scape.

A 48 page catalog with 20 color reproductions and an essay by the noted LA art critic Peter Frank will accompany the exhibition.

Opening reception takes place 2:00 - 4:00 pm, March 24th.

There will be a champagne brunch fundraiser from 12:30 to 2:00 pm. on Sunday, March 24th prior to the opening reception. Tickets are $75.

 

Notre Dame de Namur University is an independent Catholic, coeducational institution serving more than 2000 students. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, Belgium in 1851 and chartered by the state in 1868, NDNU maintains a strong commitment to social justice and community engagement. The University is fully accredited and offers 21 liberal arts and career preparation undergraduate programs, and 12 graduate degrees and five credentials. The 50-acre campus is located in Belmont, just south of San Francisco.  For more information visit www.ndnu.edu.

Wiegand Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday noon-4 p.m. Admission is
free. Visit the Wiegand website at www.wiegandgallery.org.