Museum Hosting ‘Peter Chanthanakone: Transition Spaces Series 10.3’

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Nov. 19, 2010 -- The Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum will host “Peter Chanthanakone: Transition Spaces Series 10.3” on the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus starting Dec. 3.

An opening reception will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 10. The reception is open to the public and will feature a gallery talk by the artist at 5 p.m.

Chanthanakone, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology at Southeast, will exhibit a series of photographs created between 2007 and 2010 from his expeditions abroad. His travels have taken him to culturally diverse places with landscapes that are not only beautiful and majestic but also filled with human despair.  

His photographs consist of a set of two images juxtaposed together to create a dialogue and connection between the viewer and the images. The images focus on the landscape and the people, most specifically the children. Chanthanakone's interest in capturing a moment, place or thing isn't just to hold onto a memory, but to show contrast between the two images. He questions how we can have beauty while, at the same time, have poverty and despair. 

Chanthanakone has a master of fine arts degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and a bachelor of fine arts degree from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

The exhibit, sponsored by the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp Museum, will remain on display through Feb. 27.

The museum is located in the Cultural Arts Center at the River Campus, located at 518 S. Fountain Street in Cape Girardeau. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. on weekends.

For more information, contact the museum at museum@semo.edu or (573) 651-2260.