WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross will present the exhibition 25 / 50: Reunion x 2 - Recent Work by James Stroud ’80 and James Paradis ’55, from June 4 - June 30, 2005.
Recent Work by James Stroud celebrates the 25th anniversary of Stroud’s graduation from Holy Cross. Stroud, a painter and master printmaker, is the founder of the Center Street Studio in Boston. For the past several years Stroud has produced a series of minimalist-inspired multi-sectional geometric abstract paintings, some measuring as much as 8 feet by 4 feet. Stroud uses a technique borrowed from printmaking where ink rollers are used to lay down coats of ink onto sheets of square plates of polished aluminum. These "rolled" paintings, while related to the printmaking process inking metal plates, allow Stroud to use this process to apply and build up multi-layered translucent oil paint into complex compositions of overlapping colors and hues.
After graduating from Holy Cross, Stroud traveled to Paris where he studied with the renowned printmaker, Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17. In 1984, he received his master of fine arts degree in printmaking at Yale University. Stroud is both a painter and printmaker and has shown his work frequently throughout the United States and abroad. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Boston Public Library, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, as well as Holy Cross. Stroud founded the Center Street Studio as an artist oriented in fine arts press in Gloucester, Mass. in 1984. He later moved his press to Boston and finally to its current location in Milton, Mass.
Recent Work by James Paradis celebrates the 50th anniversary of Paradis’ graduation from Holy Cross. Paradis, a Boston-based artist, worked in the real estate market for many years before retiring in 1995. In 1999, Paradis was accepted into the bachelor of fine arts degree program in painting at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where he recently graduated. Paradis has shown his work at the French Library and Cultural Center of Boston, 2003; Centre d’Exchange Cultural d’Auvillar, France, 2003; and, most recently, at the Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show 2005.
Paradis’ work explores a sculptural approach to painting by re-forming finished paintings into folded and crumpled shapes with jagged edges which jut out from the wall, somewhat resembling large boulders fastened to the wall. The exhibition of his work will also include a body of 17 oil on paper abstract paintings.
The following events, in conjunction with the Holy Cross Reunion Weekends June 3 - 5 and June 10 - 12, will be held at the Cantor Art Gallery:
- Reception for James Stroud, June 4, 5 - 6:30 p.m.
- Reception for James Paradis, June 10, 4 - 6 p.m.
Gallery Information
The hours for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery are Monday - Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed weekends except for special events. Located in O’Kane Hall, 1st Floor, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, MA, 01610. Admission to the gallery is free. Public parking is located on Linden Lane, gate 2, off College Street.
For more information, call the Cantor Art Gallery at 508-793-3356 or visit the Gallery’s Web site at: www.holycross.edu/departments/cantor/website/index.html.
