It’s Getting Hot Out Here: A solo exhibition of the work of Ohio artist Roscoe L. Wilson

The Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University is pleased to present the exhibition, It’s Getting Hot Out Here, a solo exhibition of work by Ohio artist and environmentalist Roscoe L. Wilson.

The exhibition opens Friday, February 10 with a reception for the artist from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, March 2. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

Roscoe Wilson’s installation work engages with the dilemma of consumerism and waste in contemporary society.  Consumerism is a natural attribute of the human condition.  As a society we buy and sell, save, collect, and ultimately discard practically everything that is in our temporary possession. Ours is a throwaway culture that values the quick and easy over the re-useable. Desirous of the next great invention we propagate planned obsolescence instead of sustainable products.

It is this paradoxical dilemma of consuming and wasting that provides the impetus for Wilson’s work. He sees it as his responsibility as an artist to engage with the topic of overconsumption and to encourage public dialogue on the issues surrounding it.

It’s Getting Hot Out Here, consists of several sculptural installations, an

d several drawings and prints that explore the concept of overconsumption especially as related to the fossil fuels coal and oil. The installation revolves around our society’s addictive use of these fuels and their significant affect on climate change. As the artist, himself states, “The abuse of these technologically outdated fuels, the structure of our current society and political system, and the unwillingness to change are all factors that can and will be devastating to our environment and our lives.”

It’s Getting Hot Out Here, investigates these ideas and challenges viewers to reflect on their own relationship to and place in contemporary society’s ongoing cycle of consumerism and waste.

Roscoe Wilson was born and raised in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. His environmental values were shaped in this mostly rural Mid-western setting. Growing up in this region enabled Wilson to experience nature and discover an awareness that only a forest, lake, and field can offer. He went on to receive a B.A. from Wabash College in Indiana, a M.A. in Painting/Printmaking from Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana, and a M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. While at UW he was able to study the history of environmentalism and drew inspiration for his artwork from former Wisconsin residents and environmental pioneers like John Muir and Aldo Leopold. Wilson now resides in Ohio and is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Miami University Hamilton.

In conjunction with the exhibition Roscoe Wilson will present a public lecture on his work Wednesday, February 8 at 6pm in Huber Auditorium of Badgely Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM.  For more information please visit our website: https://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale/index.html or follow us on Facebook.

To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with the artists please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu.