Gordon in the News: last updated 02/28/2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2006
MEDIA CONTACT: Cyndi McMahon
Office of College Communications
978.867.4236
WENHAM, MA -Internationally known artist Bruce Herman, a West Gloucester resident, was recently installed as the Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in the Fine Arts at Gordon College this week. Herman's paintings are in many prominent collections including the Vatican Museum of Modern Religious Art in Rome and the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass. as well as many important private collections.
The Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in the Fine Arts is the first endowed chair appointment in the history of the Christian Liberal Arts College. "This is a landmark appointment for Gordon College in many ways," states College Provost Mark Sargent. "Not only is it our first fully endowed chair, it also reaffirms Gordon's leadership role in the visual arts both within our region and within the Christian community nationwide."
As an artist, Herman's paintings, prints and drawings explore the perennial human dilemma--the longing for transcendence and the paradoxical reality of human mortality with all its melancholy, hope and comic/tragic truth. He frequently draws on the Bible and First Century Christians for images and inspiration, finding in it an inexhaustible reservoir of beauty and meaning. "I have always admired Bruce's art," Sargent reflects. "His canvases blend grand human figures and vibrant colors that address the major themes of tragedy, compassion and redemption, all the while retaining subtleties of texture and nuance that evoke a wide range of emotions and meaning."
The Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in the Fine Arts has been made possible by the generosity of Walter and Darlene Hansen. Longtime supporters of the arts, the Hansens have been substantial benefactors of missionary work throughout the world. Their gifts have also supported faculty development endeavors throughout Christian higher education. The Hansens live in Santa Barbara, California, and both serve on several boards and assist philanthropic causes.
The Hansens chose to name the chair for Lothlórien, the "golden wood" of mallorn-trees from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Overseen by Galadriel, the most powerful elf of her age, and her husband Celeborn, Lothlórien was a place of great beauty and peace, far from evil and danger and resistant to the slow decay of time. Lothlórien, in the words of Tolkien, opened a "window that looked on a vanished world." Full of "gold and white and blue and green," Lothlórien was a place of great color and beauty, and it provided sojourners a waking dream of ancient days and a vision of hope.
Herman has served on the faculty at Gordon College for 22 years. He joined the faculty in 1984 and in 1989 became Chair of the Department of Art. He completed both undergraduate and graduate fine arts degrees at Boston University School for the Arts where he studied under Philip Guston, James Weeks, David Aronson and Reed Kay.
In addition to prominent museums, Herman's artwork has been exhibited in over 50 exhibitions in 11 major cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, St. Paul and Phoenix. His work has been shown in five different countries, including England, Italy, Russia, Canada and Israel.
For information on Bruce Herman and The Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in the Fine Arts, contact the Office of College Communications at 978.867.4236. For details on artists and exhibitions featured at the Barrington Gallery visit www.gordon.edu/arts_music/gallery.htm
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Gordon College is a Christian college of the liberal arts and sciences on Boston's North Shore. The college offers majors in 36 fields and has graduate programs in education and music education. Leading the way in Christian college merit, Gordon is nationally ranked for its excellence in academics and its role in character building. These achievements recognize Gordon as one of the nation's top Christian colleges.
