Good Dog/Bon Chien Bigger Than Life

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A photographic installation in the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center Gallery, says artist Michael Peven, "is like nothing you’ve ever seen before." The oversized digital images featuring Bandit, the artist’s dog, cover the walls and windows of the gallery space. Positive and negative images, primarily in black and white, practically overwhelm viewers with their billboard-sized scale.

"GOOD DOG/BON CHIEN" opened the fall exhibition season for the Fulbright College Department of Art on August 26, continuing through September 27, 2002. A reception for the artist and his dog will be held on Sunday, September 8 at 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Gallery.

Movement is a key element in the works on display. First, there is the dog in motion, as captured by the camera, and then there is the movement of the viewer throughout the space, producing a three-dimensional effect.

"The imagery and presentation of this piece are deliberately capricious as a means of attracting the viewer at an initial level of interest. Viewers bring to this work their own experiences and histories, their own physical characteristics and perceptual prejudices when interpreting it, thereby 'finishing’ the piece," said Peven.

Michael Peven, a professor of art at the University of Arkansas, has taught photography since 1977. His work has been featured in over 20 solo exhibitions and more than 100 group shows, and peven has received Fellowships in photography from the Arkansas Arts Council and the Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA. His photography is represented in the collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson.