Digital artist to lecture at Waubonsee College
A Chicago artist known for digital artwork that leaves viewers questioning what is real will offer a lecture and workshop Thursday, Sept. 17, at Waubonsee Community College.
George Blaha's work is on exhibition until Sept. 20 in The Arrowhead Room of the Dickson Center at Waubonsee's Sugar Grove campus, Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive. Blaha will offer a lecture that is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 17, in Von Ohlen Hall, Room 201, and a workshop for current Waubonsee students from 12:15 to 2:45 p.m. in the same room.
He earned his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1980. He also studied art history and philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and digital arts at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines. Blaha uses the computer, specifically, a 3-D imaging program used by animators called Carrara, as his primary artistic tool. His practice is influenced by his study of geometry and more than 30 years of Buddhist meditation.
Cecilia L. Vargas, art coordinator for Waubonsee, said Blaha's work is influenced by the pixilated images in the popular video game "Minecraft."
"His work makes you question what is real and what is not," she said. "Although this is a question artists and philosophers have contemplated over the years, it's George's approach to art-making that is new for me. I find his work interesting because it is formally strong and conceptually intriguing. Blaha's practice functions at the intersections of art, life and the digital world. The work draws the viewer in to investigate and question."
Inspired by the visual language used in "Minecraft," Blaha's drawings, paintings and sculptures - which are presented as ink jet prints - represent objects that do not exist in the three-dimensional world.
The Arrowhead Room gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; and is closed Sunday.
The exhibition is free and open to the general public, but students should contact Vargas to register for the workshop by emailing cvargas@waubonsee.edu or calling (630) 466-2964.