Renowned Contemporary Sculptor To Lecture Nov. 8

November 2, 2001

Internationally known contemporary artist Stephen DeStaebler will deliver the 2001 M.D. Anderson lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in room 149 at the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center on the Baylor University campus. DeStaebler's lecture, which will be accompanied by slides of his work, is free and open to the public.
Receiving his undergraduate degree at Princeton University and his master's degree at the University of California at Berkeley, DeStaebler was first trained as a painter. He began working with clay during his days at Berkeley and for the past four decades has built an extensive international reputation for his figurative work in clay and bronze. He credits abstract expressionist painters and classical and medieval sculpture as inspirations.
According to assistant professor Susan Dunkerley, DeStaebler's work, which is constructed primarily in clay, is fundamentally connected to Earth as a source of his material and as integral to the origin and destination of humanity.
"The fragmented bodies, scarred with the gestures of their construction, embody human struggle and invite empathy that is more than skin deep, penetrating to mortality of flesh and bone," Dunkerley said.
Michael Brenson of the "New York Times" said of DeStaebler's sculptures: "When someone in the future decides to figure out how human beings saw themselves in the late 20th century, the sculptural figures of Stephen De Staebler will provide a point of orientation."
DeStaebler's work can be found in numerous private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Craft Museum in New York, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The lecture is made possible through support from the M.D. Anderson Foundation of Houston.
For more information, contact Dr. Paul McCoy, professor of art and ceramist-in-residence, at 710-4415.