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The Kent State School of Art’s Downtown Gallery will present the exhibit “Far East to West, A Series of Gouache Works” featuring artist Richard Lazarro through June 16.  The Downtown Gallery is located at 141 E. Main Street in Kent.

Lazzaro has been a prominent advocate for abstract painting for more than 50 years as an artist and educator.  His work has been included in several invitational exhibitions in museums, art centers and galleries throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and South America.  Over the years, his experimentation in painting moved away from the reference of the visible world to an exploration of flat space, movement, color direct painting and the use of nonspecific imagery.

"I find it difficult to pursue pure abstraction without feeling a sense of guilt about abandoning the teachings and humanist concerns that were so eloquently discussed by my mentors,” says Lazarro. “I therefore want passion to be a part of the work, and to have [it] be an expression of experience not solely about aesthetics.”

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1937, Lazzaro studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art (1955-59), ������ (BFA, 1961) and the University of Illinois (MFA, 1963). He is an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he taught drawing and painting in the Department of Art from 1963 - 2001.  He has lived in Mexico, New York City and Europe. Lazzaro’s art is represented in more than 400 private and public collections, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Dayton Art Institute and the Cleveland Print Club in Ohio.

For more information about the School of Art’s Downtown Gallery, call 330-676-1549.