KINGSTON, R.I. –March 12, 2008–Mixed media artist Albert Chong will be the Italo Scanga visiting artist at the University of Rhode Island this spring. He will give a presentation titled “The Flight Trilogy” Monday, March 31 at 4 p.m. in the Cherry Auditorium, Kirk Engineering Building, 90 Upper College Road, Kingston. It is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

His diverse background influences Chong’s work. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Chong immigrated to the U.S. in 1977 when he was 19. These experiences influence his work that deals with personal mysticism, spirituality, race and identity. His main bodies of photographic work range from playful juxtapositions and formal still lifes to works that represent and reanimate his family history. Chong’s work also includes installations, sculpture, and artist books.

During his week in residence, Chong will create a viewer activated installation that will finish his trilogy series titled “Winged Evocations: A Meditation on Flight & Divinity.” The first part, titled “Winged Evocations” has traveled the U.S. and Cuba. “Throne for the Third Millennium” has traveled to Oslo, Norway and is on display in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new installation will be on view to the general public at the end of his residency in the art lobby of URI’s Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston. Chong will work with URI students to create this piece.

Chong has received various prestigious awards including a National Endowment of the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Pollack Krasner grant. He represented Jamaica in four international biennials, including the 2001 Venice Biennial, the 1998 Sao Paulo Biennale and the seventh Havana Biennale in Cuba in 2000.

Chong received a master of fine arts degree from the University of California at San Diego. He is a professor of art at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Italo Scanga Visiting Artist Fund was established in 2005 with a donation from URI Art Department alumna Katherine Scanga and the Italo Scanga Foundation. Italo Scanga was an internationally renowned sculptor who taught for many years at the University of California-San Diego. For further information on the Italo Scanga Foundation see http://www.italoscanga.org. The program is also supported by URI’s Center for the Humanities. For more information, contact the URI Department of Art at 401-874-5821.

To receive emails about future presentations at the URI Art Department, email artdept@etal.uri.edu.

Winged Evocations In Motion