March 09, 2011

Conceptual artist Dario Robleto to visit SIUC

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Conceptual artist Dario Robleto visits Southern Illinois University Carbondale to present a free lecture and discussion of his multimedia art and his multi-faceted approach to art.

Robleto will deliver his talk, “The Common Denominator of Existence is Loss,” beginning at 7 p.m. on March 22 in the University Museum Auditorium.

Robleto, born and currently residing in San Antonio, Texas, is a conceptual artist. He brings elements from music, popular culture, history and warfare into his art, often in the form of found objects such as vinyl records, carved bone and excavated shrapnel from battlefields. Some critics describe his sculptural work as memorial in nature while others say his work often reflects mourning and loss.

His solo exhibitions, often with names that resemble poems, have appeared on both coasts and many galleries in between, including, most recently, the Des Moines Art Center and the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art. He also participates in group exhibitions, including recent showings at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Seattle Museum of Art.

Robleto is a past United States Artists Rasmuson Fellow, a past Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant recipient, and an Ellen Battel Stoeckel Fellowship holder at Yale University. He has a long list of publications to his credit as well.

His work may be seen in such public collections as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Calif., and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.