to Feature Renowned Music Educator

Event:
Dr. Edwin Gordon:  From the Inside Out
A solo art exhibition featuring two- and three-dimensional works
 
Dates/Place:
A reception open to the public will be held Thursday, September 14, from 7:00 pm-8:30 pm
Columbia College, Goodall Gallery
The exhibit will be on display from September 6 until October 18
 
Featured Works:
The show will feature wood sculptures and multi-media wall hangings spanning a twenty year period from artist and Columbia resident, Edwin Gordon.
 
Artist Background Information:
Born September 14, 1927 in Stamford Connecticut, Dr. Edwin Gordon is an internationally known early childhood music educator with degrees from The Eastman School of Music and Ohio University, earning his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Earlier in his career he performed as a bass player with the various jazz ensembles and the noted jazz musician, Gene Krupa, in the early 1950’s.
 The better part of Gordon’s career has been spent researching and teaching music education.  Gordon has also written and published numerous books and education materials on the subject and has held the Carl E. Seashore Chair for Research in Music at Temple University, Philadelphia. Gordon retired from academic life and currently resides in Columbia, SC.
His interest in fine art began about 20 years ago through refinishing furniture where he became accustomed to wood working and furniture making, mostly as a practical means to furnish his home.  In 1986, while teaching at Temple, Gordon was formally introduced to sculpting with wood through friend and artist Bruce Johnson.  
Gordon worked solely on wood sculptures from 1986 to 1997.  Most of the pieces are semi-abstract to abstract in organic and figurative styles that are indicative of the famous British artist, Henry Moore. Being a former jazz musician who heavily enjoyed improvisation, the idea and act of creating art was a natural progression and outlet for Gordon who says, “woodcarving afforded the opportunity to slight reality and to indulge in imagination…I captured space and expressed crystallized movement. In jazz bass playing, I followed the chord progressions, and in sculpting I followed the grain of the wood.”
In 2000, an arm injury forced Gordon to halt wood sculpting. Since then, he has been working two dimensionally with abstract multi-media works where he applies the same concepts of improvisation. The 2-D works are minimal and geometric using various materials such as plastic cord and layers of paint to build the surface.  Gordon’s background in jazz is evident in the newer works with images that sometimes convey a bass vibration or the varying directions of a jazz beat.

For more information, please contact Jackie Adams at 786-3088.