David Hopes Art On Exhibit at Mars Hill University’s Weizenblatt Gallery

November 8, 2018

Mars Hill University will hold a reception for Asheville artist David Hopes on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, from 6-8 p.m., in Weizenblatt Gallery in Moore Fine Arts Building. The gallery is showing his exhibit “Night Wings” from November 7 through December 14.

Hopes is an award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, actor, singer, painter, and professor—not necessarily in that order. He works back and forth between the visual and oral, between narrative and mystical, to create different forms of art that are evocative and compelling.

He describes the pieces in the Night Wings exhibit as experiments, often rough in appearance. Hopes combines canvas, plywood, drywall, scraps from torn-apart furniture, and whatever else is handy and appropriate, along with traditional acrylic and oil paints, to create multi-layered images. Several works address themes from the Bible or mythology. Many use birds as symbols or metaphors.

Hopes is professor of English at UNC Asheville. He holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s in creative writing from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in British and American literature from Syracuse. His most recent book of poetry is”Peniel,” and his first novel, “The Falls of the Wyona,” is due in the spring of 2019. His plays have been performed locally at the Magnetic Theater as well as in New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and London. Hopes’ most recent exhibit of paintings, “Works on Wood,” was held this summer at the Flood Gallery in Black Mountain.

Established in 1991 as a gift from the estate of Dr. Sprinza Weizenblatt, Asheville physician and philanthropist, the primary function of the Weizenblatt Gallery at Mars Hill University is to educate through art. Weizenblatt Gallery hosts exhibitions of work in a variety of styles and mediums by artists of local and national prominence. The gallery’s operational hours are Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. during the academic spring and fall semesters. The general public, school classes, and other groups are welcome. Admission is free.