Visiting Artist To Give Lecture and Demonstration at Gordon Galleries Today

The Old Dominion University art department will host Hoseob Yoon, a prominent South Korean artist/graphic designer who has devoted his life and career to protecting the environment, for a demonstration and lecture tonight at 6 p.m., at the Baron and Ellin Gordon Galleries.

Yoon, who has been called a "Green Design Activist," will begin with an interactive art-making session, which involves the designing and painting of T-shirts with artful, environmental messages. Attendees are encouraged to bring a white T-shirt for the demonstration. Yoon will then deliver his lecture at 7 p.m. on "A Day in the Life of an Environmental Artist."

ODU Assistant Professor Jiwon Lee invited Yoon to campus from Brandeis and Boston universities, where he is conducting artist residencies. Yoon served as Lee's mentor while Lee attended Kookmin University in Seoul as an undergraduate.

"Professor Yoon is different from other artists and designers who use a green concept for their exhibition," Lee said. "Yoon never stayed in a white-cubic space but went out into the street to reach people's daily life.

"He spends three to four days a week in a busy commercial district in Seoul meeting citizens and drawing green paintings on their T-shirts. As a result of his humble effort, thousands of people have had their T-shirts painted green, which reminds them what we must consider seriously for the future," Lee added.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information call Lee at 683-5460.