5/2/97
CONTACT: Robert Peppers, Ohio University, 614/593-1679
ATHENS, Ohio -- The wRAP Room, an art installation by Ohio University Associate Professor of Art Robert Peppers and University of Akron Associate Professor of Art Tyrone Geter, will be exhibited in the Lindley Arts and Cultural Center's Robert S. Duncanson Gallery from May 6-14. An opening reception will be held at 8 p.m. Tuesday (May 6).
The installation coincides with the Second International Conference on Entertainment-Education and Social Change running May 7-10 on the Athens campus. Admission to the exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The title of the installation represents a play on the words wrap -- to fold something around a person or thing so as to cover, and rap -- a rhythmic monologue performed to music. Before rap music became popular, "to rap" was slang for "to discuss," noted the artists, both graduates of Ohio University's School of Art.
"In the truest sense our combined work becomes a visual monologue created from drawings and collages," the artists said. "We want to transform the gallery into a place for people to come together and discuss -- or rap -- about our common problems. We had the idea of creating a space that would fold around the spectator using images that highlight issues confronting the black community.
"Perhaps rapping' can lead to healing," they added. "The furniture will be wrapped as a symbol of the healing process in an attempt to make the room more user-friendly."
Peppers and Geter also noted that many issues confronting the African-American community have been played out in front of news cameras or embraced by rap music.
The installation evolves around a collaborative piece titled "East Coast/West Coast Epitaph," wall-size images of rap artists Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur that deal with the glorification of violence. Other works comment on neglected black children, as in Geter's "Paper Dolls" and "Target." Peppers' "Turf Effigy, Rwanda" speaks to the genocide that results from such neglect and violence. The wRAP Room also includes Geter's series of drawings called "The Malcolm X Series" and Peppers' "Judgement Day" drawing, illustrating the Rodney King beating videotape.