"God Is Near: The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson" opens on 28th at gallery

Old Dominion University Gallery will open a new exhibition, featuring works by Arkansas artist Donald Roller Wilson Saturday, Sept. 28.

The exhibition, "God Is Near: The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson," is held in conjunction with the 25th annual Literary Festival. The gallery, located at, 350 W. 21st in Norfolk, will host a reception with the artist from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5. The show continues through Oct. 27.

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. For more information on Wilson go to www.donaldrollerwilson.com.

Wilson will participate on a panel discussion, "Given that the Painter is a Poet, the Poet a Painter . . . ," from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, in room 102 of the Mills Godwin Jr. Building with authors Mark Doty and W.D. Snodgrass. The three artists will address the relationship of poetry and painting through their own experience.

According to actress and author Carrie Fisher, "Wilson has a mystical world spinning around in his head. His world is removed from this one - a teeming spiritual place, complete with its very own civilization. It is a small town he is compelled to introduce us to, and acquaint us with, until the inhabitants are as real to us as they are to him. His paintings tell stories with pictures and he tells the stories through the innocence of images created from a seemingly pointless combination of various dressed-up animals, objects - even vegetables - assembled for just one last family portrait. The surface effect is whimsy."

Wilson's paintings are in the collections of Jack Nicholson, Steve Martin, Dan Ackroyd, Robin Williams, Holly Solomon, Meryl Streep and Elizabeth Taylor, among many others. His paintings also belong to the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, among many others.

The University Gallery is open noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. For more information: 683-2355 or www.metonym.org/studio/odu.