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Mark Sisson, Portrait of Cameron Richardson: Peace, No Piece (Color), 2017, charcoal and pastel drawing on paper, 40 x 30 inches.

OSU Museum of Art set to open Mark Sisson exhibit, Themes on Being

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | Museum Marketing and Communications | 405-744-2783 | egosney@okstate.edu

The OSU Museum of Art will unveil its newest exhibition Oct. 19, featuring works by Mark Sisson, an Oklahoma State University professor of printmaking, drawing and 2D design. 

Themes on Being: A Mark Sisson Retrospective is a 17-piece collection of portraits that guest curator Krystle Kaye described as “complex vignettes that are part documentary, part theater.”

“Sisson reimagines the modern political cartoon genre through exquisite naturalistic precision and presents his forms with new clarity,” said Kaye, who also serves as executive director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

Sisson earned his BFA at the University of Michigan and his MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before coming south to OSU in 1989. He was promoted to professor of art in 2001 and named a Regents Distinguished Research Professor in 2017. Several students, faculty and staff have become models for his artworks over the years—pieces that offer commentary on contemporary social issues.

Sisson is retiring at the end of the 2021-22 school year, making Themes on Being a celebration of his decades as an educator and artist. 

“Mark’s style is really one of a kind, and this exhibit will give viewers a chance to experience it firsthand,” said Victoria Berry, OSU Museum of Art director and chief curator. “These works are much more than portraits; they contain stories and metaphors that demand a closer look.” 

The museum will host a reception for Themes on Being: A Mark Sisson Retrospective on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. The show, which is supported in part by Malinda and Dick Fischer and the OSU Museum of Art Advocates, will be on display through Dec. 11.

About the OSU Museum of Art

The museum is located at 720 S. Husband St. in downtown Stillwater. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday. Admission is free, thanks to generous support from the OSU Museum of Art Advocates. For more information about the museum, visit museum.okstate.edu or call 405-744-2780.

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