The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Galleries of Contemporary Art (GOCA) has announced a major new exhibition “High + Low: D. Dominick Lombardi Retrospective,” which will be on view Aug. 19-Dec. 12 at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery of Contemporary Art within the Ent Center for the Arts on the west side of the UCCS campus. The exhibition includes artwork spanning nearly five decades of the artist’s career and is curated by T. Michael Martin, Director of the Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University in Kentucky.
The public is invited to a special event on Thursday, Sept. 16, including a lecture by the artist from 5-6 p.m. as part of the UCCS Visiting Artists & Critics Series in the Chapman Recital Hall at the Ent Center (next to the gallery), followed immediately by a catered reception at the gallery for the artist and guest curator until 8 p.m. An informal gallery talk is planned for Friday, Sept. 17 from 12-1 p.m. with Lombardi and Martin sharing insights in conversation with GOCA Director Daisy McGowan. These events are free to attend, but pre-registration is requested. The gallery is open to the public Thursday-Sunday, 1- 7:30 p.m. with free admission daily. Visits by advance appointment are welcome; email [email protected] to arrange.
To learn more, visit the event page at https://entcenterforthearts.org/goca/exhibitions/lombardi-retrospective.
About the exhibition
The 45-year retrospective exhibition is curated by T. Michael Martin, featuring 20 distinct chapters of the career of the artist. A catalog accompanies the exhibition, available to view digitally here.
A common thread throughout Lombardi’s work is his interest in blending qualities of highbrow and lowbrow art, and experimentation with various media. His lifelong journey began with his exposure to modern art when he first saw a reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica (1939) at the age of 3 or 4, and continued with his introduction to the seductive world of Zap Comix in 1968.
The exhibition begins with the Cyborgs, a science fiction-based series depicting half human/half machine beings. It continues through his East Village days, his earliest forays into sculpture and kinetic art, and the repurposing of a multitude of found materials. A pivotal point in his art career was the Post Apocalyptic Tattoo series, which was prompted by his concerns for the environment and how it would impact our future. After the downturn in the economy in 2008, he began the Street Urchin series that focused on the marginalized victims of that era. Most recently he has explored the social issues of our time referencing the roots of human morality.
Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity to not only see a myriad of unique and thoughtful pieces, but to also see a physical representation of the timeline of Lombardi’s life. The exhibition is curated by T. Michael Martin, Director of the Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University, in Murray, Kentucky, where it premiered in 2019.
Curator T. Michael Martin writes about the artist: “Lombardi’s masterful mix of high and low culture is as current as the day it was created, showing how little the aesthetics of human behavior have changed. In some ways, Lombardi’s distortions are a more truthful look at society than our daily facade of polite policy and political correctness, especially in the way we prompt contention, as Lombardi offers a much-needed change and disruption through his unique sense of humor. Common throughout the works, Lombardi reveals source, influence, and process that allow the viewer a glimpse into the stages of his creations. They are, in essence, an open interpretation, veiled in playfulness, to put forth a more in-depth investigation of some very real concerns. His narrative is staged, directed, and then morphed through mostly unconventional combinations, as the resulting compositions encourage us to investigate beyond the surface of each work. A suggested glimpse into an apocalyptic breakdown of society, where we are allowed to emerge charged, reconfigured, and prepared to push forward, is a cunning execution where questions flow and commentary is made as the viewer reexamines the world revealed around them.”
About the artist
D. Dominick Lombardi is a celebrated artist and curator, and widely published writer. Lombardi was born in 1954, into an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. He worked in his father’s carpentry shop as a teenager, learning to work with and respect hand tools under the guidance of his father and grandfather – lessons he has continued to employ over the past 50 years. He currently lives and works in Valhalla, New York.
Feature articles and reviews of Lombardi’s exhibitions have appeared in Sculpture, WHITEHOT (Canada), ARTES magazine, ARTnews, The New York Times and many more.
About the Galleries of Contemporary Art
GOCA is a regional hub of contemporary art, culture, and conversation. By featuring world-class artists, hosting artist and expert talks, and offering meaningful events, GOCA engages UCCS students, faculty, staff and Pikes Peak Region community members in contemporary culture and life. GOCA is a contemporary arts organization with two galleries, one founded on the UCCS campus in 1981 and a satellite downtown location that opened in 2010 in the Plaza of the Rockies building.