NEW GALLERY EXHIBIT OPENS SATURDAY

"Selections from the Ellin and Baron Gordon Contemporary Folk Art Collection," an exhibition of 34 works by 31 folk artists, will open Saturday, Feb. 23, at the University Gallery. A reception in conjunction with the exhibition will be held at 7 p.m. March 2 at the gallery, 350 W. 21st St., Norfolk. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Gallery director Katherine Huntoon selected work from the collection by artists who use unusual and innovative material in the construction of their pieces.

According to Huntoon, "Artists working outside the mainstream of academic art serve as an example to us all to search for the elements, no matter where they may be found - in house paint, in found objects, in nature - that will add just the right inflection to their artwork to convey their message."

Works from the Gordon collection have been included in exhibitions at the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

The exhibition continues through March 31. The University Gallery is open from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 683-2355.