Painter Hutson opens 2001 season at Wheaton's Watson Gallery

Wheaton College's Watson Gallery will open the 2001 exhibition schedule on February 1 with a one-man show by artist William Hutson. The show, Tactile Images: Paintings and Painted Objects, is co-sponsored by Wheaton's Black History Month Committee and will run through February 29, 2001.

Hutson has been making abstract paintings and painted objects since 1960. These two and three-dimensional works are conceived and constructed like architecture and employ a variety of materials incorporating sculpture and painting techniques alike. With the ''Tactile Series,'' Hutson has created ''interactive paintings,'' or images with detachable parts, allowing for active viewer participation. The viewer can actually reconfigure the images by displacing selected parts to change the compositions thus challenging the axiom, ''look but don't touch,'' even as it raises questions about permanence and how art is regarded as precious.

Hutson has chosen to produce art that does not explicitly advocate a particular cause. However, his work is deeply imbued with a political sensibility. Its simplicity and spirituality take us beyond defined political boundaries such as gender, ethnic, and religious affiliations. Hutson's work is infused with his African-American background and extensive experience in European, African, and North American culture. He teaches at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Penn.

An artist's talk at 7:00p.m. will be followed by a gallery reception at 8:00 p.m. Watson Gallery is located in Wheaton's Watson Fine Art Center. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is open to the public without charge. For directions to Wheaton College, log onto www.wheatoncollege.edu/about/directions.