296 TODD GALLERY WELCOMES ‘THE LARGE PIECES’ BY ARTIST CRETARA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 19, 2008
CONTACT: Lon Nuell, 615-898-2505 or lrnuell@mstu.edu

TODD GALLERY WELCOMES ‘THE LARGE PIECES’ BY ARTIST CRETARA
Exhibit Set for March 10-28 Represents An “Extraordinary Body of Work,” Curator Says

(MURFREESBORO)—The Todd Gallery at MTSU will present “Domenic Cretara: The Large Drawings,” a 19-piece exhibit by the California-based artist, March 10 through March 28 in Todd Hall on the university’s campus.
The show, which is free and open to the public, will feature works by the contemporary realist that were created in some of his preferred media; namely, charcoal, pastels (chalk and pencil) and chalk.
Regarding Cretara’s exhibit pieces, Lon Nuell, gallery curator, said, “Two smaller works (featured in the upcoming show) are dynamic figure studies that present the human torso as powerful and energetic, full of tension that is palpable. The third such work, a still-life, depicts two carved figures of children playing and a dark mask that generates an interesting and unusual, tension for the viewer to sort out.”
Additionally, Cretara’s “Self Portrait” depicts the artist “on the back of a powerful horse (and) riding forward out of the picture plane is a biographical statement that tells of the artist’s intensity and drive and his sensitivity,” Nuell explained. “(And) the latter is seen in his hand that reaches gently to the horse’s neck in a reassuring way, demonstrating a quiet control of a powerful force—perhaps a visual metaphor for his life and his work.”
Cretara currently serves as a professor of art at the University of Southern California in Long Beach, where he teaches drawing and painting. Further, the works that will compose “The Large Drawings” exhibit—all of which range in size from 60” x 96” to 24” x 21”—are the result of a grant made to him through USC-Long Beach, which provided the artist with uninterrupted time to create the exhibit pieces.
Nuell, who also serves as an art professor at MTSU, has called Cretara’s campus-based show an “extraordinary body of work.”
“His choice of subject matter does reflects his deep roots in the figurative tradition of the East Coast, that of those whom he has studied, and the influence of the West Coast—the light, the people, the very essence of the place,” Nuell observed.
“The large works (in the upcoming MTSU exhibit) provide a glimpse into the artist’s world,” he continued. “His family—wife, daughter and husband, grandchildren and himself—are his primary subjects and reflect the intimacy that evolves through a very traditional family relationship.”
Named as the 2003 recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award from CSU-Long Beach, Cretara originally hails from Massachusetts. He studied at Boston University, where he earned both a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1968) and Master of Fine Arts (1970).
“(Cretara) was trained in the East Coast tradition of figurative painting,” Nuell said, “and his work reflects the influence of such great artists as Pontormo, Caravaggio, Goya, Balthus and Antonio Lopez Garcia.”
Cretara’s exhibition record includes one-man shows at the Schomburg Gallery, Santa Monica; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; the Las Vegas Art Museum; the Alon Gallery, Boston; the Segal Gallery, Victor McNeil Gallery and Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York; and the Koplin Gallery in Los Angeles.
His group exhibitions include shows in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York, as well as shows in Madrid, Spain; Cassis, France; and Rome, Italy.
• GALLERY HOURS: Located on the first floor of MTSU’s Todd Building, the Todd Gallery is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free and exhibits are open to the public.
For more information regarding the current exhibit, please contact Nuell at 615-898-2505 or via e-mail at lrnuell@mstu.edu.

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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To obtain tif images of some of the artwork that will be part of “The Large Pieces” show in the Todd Gallery, please contact Lisa L. Rollins via e-mail at lrollins@mtsu.edu.