Date: Mar 28, 2008

Hofstra Department of Fine Arts Presents "Lifelines" by Artist Claudia McNulty

April 2 to 22, 2008, Rosenberg Gallery, Calkins Hall

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Lifelines, large works on paper by artist Claudia McNulty, will be on display at Hofstra University’s Rosenberg Gallery in Calkins Hall, April 2 to 22, 2008. The show is presented by Hofstra’s Department of Fine Arts. An opening reception and gallery talk by Ms. McNulty will take place on April 2 at 11:30 a.m. Admission to the show is free and open to the public.

In Lifelines, Ms. McNulty works out tragedies she has suffered and finds a parallel between the losses in her life and the decay of the environment. At the age of 15 her best friend died. Later in life she was witness to her mother’s struggle with terminal cancer. She has also had to brave the death of a close aunt and the paralysis of her father. She says now, “The earth is dying an untimely death and not of its own doing. I feel the same despair as I did witnessing these other deaths.”

She continues, “I think so much about this fine, tentative line between life and death, my own and the earth’s. The urgency and responsibility I feel is what motivates this body of work. It comes from a wellspring of dismay and concern about our corrupted environment, both physical and spiritual.”

The first artist Ms. McNulty says really moved her was Francis Bacon. “He melded his angst – political and physical – into one form. Rauschenberg, Johns, Warhol, Manet and Fra Angelico are also great influences. Graphic design and love of drawing has always played a part in what I do. I like the use of mixed media and imagery that relates to advertising such as words, numbers and graphs.”

The Rosenberg Gallery hours are Monday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m.; and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information call Hofstra University’s Fine Arts Department at (516) 463-5474 or the University Relations office at (516) 463-6818 or 6819. For more information on Ms. McNulty, visit her Web site at www.claudiamcnulty.com.