Jonathan Hils at OKCMOA

NEW FRONTIERS | JONATHAN HILS: INTERSECTION

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art presents Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION, opening September 9, 2010, and continuing through January 3, 2011. The second installment of the NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art, INTERSECTION exhibits a selection of large-scale, hand-wrought automobiles by artist Jonathan Hils. These steel and aluminum sculptures express the artist’s interest in the American phenomena of oversized vehicles and society’s relationship with them.

Hils’ sculpture investigates the place where identity and the mythology of things intersect. He employs an intensive fabrication process that consists of thousands of welds—individually connected and

Jonathan Hils, (American, b. 1970). Right Turn, 2005. Welded and coated steel.

metaphorically interwoven—to create luminous, large-scale representations of objects of American desire. Whether one identifies with automobiles—in this case, SUVs—as status symbols or as expressions of masculinity and power, Hils reconfigures and feminizes them, in part, questioning aspects of contemporary American culture and how we identify with it.

A native of New Hampshire, Hils is an associate professor of sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. He received his BFA from Georgia State University (1997) and his MFA from Tulane University (1999). Before coming to the University of Oklahoma, he served as an adjunct instructor (drawing and sculpture), studio manager, and technician at the College of Charleston School of the Arts in South Carolina. Hils received the 2005 Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition Fellowship (OVAC) for outstanding creative work in the visual arts. His sculpture is included in public and private collections and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the U.S.

NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art presents the work of individual contemporary artists and current perspectives in the field. The Series was created to provide a framework for the exchange of ideas between the Mu seum, artists, and the community. NEW FRONTIERS connects the Museum to the international dialogue on contemporary art and emphasize the impor tance of the art-of-our-time as a critical and dynamic part of our daily lives.

Jonathan Hils Bio

A native of New Hampshire, Jonathan W. Hils is an Associate Professor of sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. He received his BFA degree from Georgia State University (1997) and his MFA from Tulane University (1999). Before coming to the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Hils served as an adjunct instructor (drawing and sculpture), studio manager, and technician at the College of Charleston School of the Arts in South Carolina.

The recipient of the 2005 Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition Fellowship (OVAC) for outstanding creative work in the visual arts, Hils’ work is represented in several private and corporate collections including the Hyatt Corporation, Four Seasons, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and Equity West Partners. He has shown extensively across the U.S. in solo and group exhibitions. He was also selected for a John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry artist residency in 2005.

He has been a visiting artist and lecturer at San Jose State University, the University of Wyoming, Appalachian State University, Longwood University, the College of Charleston, Renmin University (China), Wichita State University, and Brevard College.

Interview with Jonathan Hils and OKCMOA Curator Alison Amick.

Exhibition Lecture
Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION and La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art from North American Collections featuring Hardy George, Ph.D., and artist Jonathan Hils
Wednesday, September 8, 5:30 pm

Gallery Talk
“Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION,” featuring artist Jonathan Hils
Thursday, September 30, 6:30 pm

Family Day
Featuring Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION and La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art from North American Collections
Saturday, November 6, 12–4 pm

Course
Understanding Contemporary Art, copresented by OKC Downtown College
Tuesdays, October 26-November 30, 5:30-8:30 pm