The Brauer Museum of Art Shows the Unique Art of Ron Villani

Written by David Browning Friday, 16 December 2011 21:27

Valparaiso, Indiana.- The Bruauer Museum of Art at the Valparaiso University Center for the Arts is proud to present "Mindless Mayhem: The Art of Ron Villani", on view at the museum through March 18th 2012. Approximately 80 new and recent works in various media (mostly paintings, but also a few sculptures and sketchbooks) comprise this exhibition that showcases Villani’s remarkable technical skills, sense of humor, and vivid imagination. His works blend science fiction, fantasy, and social commentary in fresh and exciting ways. "The show is a continuing evolution of images," Villani has said. "It's set up in a way that the images could be a little uncomfortable, they could be interesting, and a person can look at it and see what they want to see all at the same time." Villani was raised in Chicago and resides in north suburban Glenview. A graduate of Chicago's School of the Art Institute, he has created and overseen celebrated advertising campaigns for Anheuser Busch, Apple and McDonalds over the course of the last four decades.

Additionally, Villani's art has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in and beyond the region over the last several years. Most notably, his work adorned the walls at the acclaimed Aron Packer Gallery in Chicago in 2009. Finding visual inspiration in fantasy and science fiction images from decades past, he cited what he described as a "concern with the state of the world today and the future" as the thematic foundation for the abstract and realist pieces in "Mayhem." There's everything from terror to willful damage to failure in there," he said. "Always wanting to have an editorial message, they're not all abstract by any stretch of the imagination. The thinking might be abstract. All my images are kind of symbols to something that's wrong in mankind." Gregg Hertzlieb, Brauer Museum of Art museum director and curator of "Mayhem," was introduced to Villani and his work through a mutual friend about a year ago.

"We've never had anything like his art before. We usually show more traditional approaches to fine art, but Villani's work blends painting and illustration, science fiction and fantasy in an exciting way."Ron Villani was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has received numerous awards.  Villani’s paintings and illustrations have been widely exhibited, published, and collected.  He has illustrated for advertising agencies, design firms, record companies, and numerous national publications. Villani has also been Art Director on projects for Apple, Audi of America, Crate & Barrel, Sports Illustrated, Anheuser Busch, McDonalds, Navistar International, Unical of California, and Mercedes Benz.

The mission of the Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University is to educate and inspire campus and community members with original works of American art and international religious art, and to bring distinction to Valparaiso University and Northwest Indiana through exhibitions of regional, national, and international importance. The Brauer Museum of Art collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American art and also includes world religious art and Midwestern regional art. Paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and photographs are represented. Selections from the permanent collection are always on view in two of the museum's seven galleries and are frequently included in special exhibitions. Virtual exhibitions that highlight aspects of the collection are always available on the website, and a project to make a full listing of our holdings available online is well underway. Amongst the 19th Century artists in the museum's collection are works by Frederic Edwin Church, Asher B. Durand, T. Alexander Harrison, John Frederick Kensett, Elizabeth Nourse, William Trost Richards, Junius R. Sloan and William Bradford. 20th century artists are represented by Frank V. Dudley, Robert Bechtle, Charles Burchfield, Elaine de Kooning, Childe Hassam, Walt Kuhn, Georgia O'Keeffe, Abraham Rattner, John Sloan, Ansel Adams, Stuart Davis and Philip Pearlstein amongst others. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.valpo.edu/artmuseum

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