While the Tarble Arts Center is currently hosting the artwork of artist Carmon Colangelo, the center will also host the artist Monday when he gives a lecture about his work and career.

The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Tarble Atrium.

Colangelo, a Canadian artist, is currently the dean of the Fox School of Design and Visual Arts in St. Louis and said his work is primarily based in painting and printmaking.

“I started in printmaking because I am fascinated by the technology that surrounds it and how you have to work with different mediums to produce it,” Colangelo said. “It is a learning process in layering the different elements and a transformation to possibly only produce one print.”

He said during the presentation, he will speak not only about his work but the concept of his work and why he chose to become an artist.

“I started drawing at a very young age and eventually started printmaking,” Colangelo said. “It is the only thing I can ever really remember wanting to do.”

The current exhibit of Colangelo’s work at the Tarble is called “iM here” and is a collection from two of his recent projects, “Eyedeas” and “OLandO”.

“In ‘iM here,’ I focus on digital technology and talk about globalization and how the world has changed through computer technology,” Colangelo said.

Within the general exhibit, Colangelo said each project has a slightly different focus.

He said “Eyedeas” focuses on everyday small ideas and is playful.

“‘OLandO’ is about the city of Orlando, a city known for Disney World, but it is a play on words so it really could be anywhere,” he said.

Michael Watts, the director of the Tarble, said he invited Colangelo to speak after an art professor, Chris Kahler, nominated Colangelo as part of the annual joint programming presented by the Tarble and the art department.

“In addition to the quality of Colangelo’s work and his stature as an artist, he was selected because he incorporates printmaking in his art,” Watts said. “We hadn’t had a printmaker as a visiting artist for a while.”

Watts said there is a lot to be learned from Colangelo beyond what is in his work.

“Like all art, there is the capacity to learn about ourselves—as individuals, as a society, and as a species—with the artist acting as an agent to focus on various aspects of our society and/or environments,” Watts said.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu.