“FRAGMENTA: Jay Holland/Sergio De Giusti” opens at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Oct. 2

An exhibition of stunning work by two well-known Michigan artists, Jay Holland and Sergio De Giusti, will be on display at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum.  FRAGMENTA: Jay Holland/Sergio De Giusti opens Oct. 2.  

A reception to meet the artists will be held at the Museum Saturday, Oct. 24 from 3 to 5 p.m.  Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP to 989-964-7082 or ljalliso@svsu.edu by Friday, Oct. 16.

 Jay Holland was born in Detroit in 1928.  He was educated at Cass Technical High School and the Society of Art and Crafts, Detroit, and Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI.  Holland taught at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit from 1964-1998. 

“Studying with Jay, I quickly realized that I was in the presence of a master.  Jay Holland is in a class by himself,” said former student James Bouchey.   “Jay is a maestro.  To him, being an artist is about a lifestyle,” adds artist Ray Katz.

Sergio De Giusti moved to Detroit from Maniago (Friuli), Italy in 1954 as a young teenager. He met Holland in 1960 when Holland was teaching sculpture classes at the Detroit Institute of Arts and they have been friends since that first encounter. De Giusti received his B.F.A. and M.F.A from Wayne State University, where he taught in the sculpture department for several years. 

Of De Giusti’s work, Marsha Miro, former Detroit Free Press art critic, wrote, “One of the few traditional figurative sculptors who updates mythical and operatic themes with values from feminism, psychoanalysis and current events.”

 “Jay Holland and Sergio De Giusti have been extraordinary teachers and sculptors for more than 90 years collectively.  It is a pleasure to bring together a body of work by two renowned sculptors in a museum where the works of a great American master, Marshall Fredericks, reside,” said Museum Director Marilyn Wheaton.

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Dow Chemical Company.

De Giusti will lecture about his work on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1 – 2 p.m. at Founders Hall on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

The exhibition runs through January 23, 2016.  For more information, call (989) 964-7125 or visit the Museum’s website at marshallfrederics.org.