The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery at Augustana University opens “Conjecture: Tom Rickers,” which will be on view from Thursday, March 21, through Friday, April 19. A gallery reception will be on Friday, March 22, from 7-9 p.m. with a talk by the artist at 7:30 p.m.
“Conjecture” is a retrospective exhibition of more than 6-decades of sculpture, printmaking and poetry by Tom Rickers. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Rickers was an important member of the Sioux Falls art community, exhibiting extensively throughout the region. Although his training was in experimental printmaking, Rickers is most known for his mixed-media and found-object sculptures.
“The tensions and harmonies in his forms are magical,” said sculptor and Augustana Eide/Dalrymple Gallery Coordinator John Peters. “His artworks are always of interesting and unusual forms that are excellently constructed and beautifully colorized.”
This retrospective is a celebration of a lifetime of work that marks significant and ongoing visual ideas — geometric and natural forms often appear to be precariously stacked and intertwined. Many are, quite literally, a balancing act. His work reconciles found objects with original compositions.
“The mental and ultimately visual exercise of making a project should unify the components into an overall statement which follows the rules or makes its own,” noted Rickers in his artist statement, who has been making his own rules for more than 60 years.
Rickers holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Utah and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia. He resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he continues his active art and writing practices. Art works in the exhibition have been borrowed from several public and private collections.
About the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery
As a part of Augustana University, the mission of the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is to contribute to the educational and cultural vitality of the university, surrounding community and state of South Dakota. The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery inspires the artists of today and tomorrow, and serves as a resource for teaching and promoting life-long learning through its permanent collection and temporary exhibition program with accompanying artist visits, gallery talks and educational materials.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is named after Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple, pioneering Augustana University professors emeriti of art. Many of their collaborative works are spread throughout the campus.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is located at 30th Street and Grange Avenue, in the Center for Visual Arts at Augustana University. The gallery is open to the public and free of charge. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Saturdays, from 1-4 p.m.