Walter Zurko's Sculptures on Display in Cincinnati

Exhibition runs now through Aug. 31 at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery located in the Aronoff Center

Walter Zurko's "Colony" (2008), a wood, metal, and clay structure, is one of the works on display now through Aug. 31 in his "piece•work" exhibition at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati.

Walter Zurko addresses the splendor and the utility of early agrarian tools /implements in "piece•work," an exhibition of his sculpture currently on display at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery located in the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati. The show, which opened June 20 and continues through Aug. 31, features nine meticulously crafted wood sculptures that subtly question productivity. Much of the work in this exhibition, which spans the past five years, differs from previous works in that the objects are more representational, less abstract, and project an underlying didactic quality.

Zurko, a professor of art at The College of Wooster, trained in ceramics but shifted to wood as his primary medium about 18 years ago. Some of the sculptures in Zurko's current exhibition closely resemble the objects that inspired them (a yoke crate carrier, a Shaker laundry basket, and stretchers/sleds) while others are more subtly altered. "I intentionally created sculpture that could be 'used' only by two or more people," he said. "This transformation suggests either the imposition of forced burden or the more benevolent interpretation of collective effort."

Zurko, who joined Wooster's faculty in 1981, earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin and an MFA from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. He has received eight individual Artist Fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and completed artist residencies at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass., the Foundation Svoboda in the Czech Republic, and the Artists Residence in Israel. During his upcoming leave in 2008-2009, he will be an artist-in-residence for two months at Anderson Ranch Arts Center near Aspen, Colo.

The Weston Gallery features 3,500 square feet of exhibition space on two levels. Acclaimed for its mix of emerging and professional artists, the Weston Gallery serves as a staging ground for local, national, and international artists working in all media.