THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - Internationally recognized sculptor and marble carver Béla Bácsi will exhibit recent work and lead a master class for the public at California Lutheran University.

“Scultura Marmo: Sculpture by Béla Bácsi” will be presented from Saturday, Feb. 12, through Friday, March 18, in the Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture. The opening reception will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12. The exhibit will feature 17 extraordinary marble and bronze works and show how a sculpture develops from a maquette, or small preliminary model, to a finished piece.

Bácsi will demonstrate his sculpture technique and processes from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, in Room 13 of F Building. Using the machinetta di punti and other classical Italian tools, he will carve one of his works in progress. There will be a 30-minute break for a picnic lunch.
The Santa Barbara resident, who teaches drawing and sculpture at CLU, is one of the most accomplished sculptors in Southern California. Bácsi is known for his narrative skill, complex and fluid forms, and the exquisite detail finish of his work, in which the hand of the artist is readily apparent. His work is widely exhibited and is included in significant collections throughout the country and abroad.

In 1999, he won the National Sculpture Society’s (NSS) Gold Medal and Maurice B. Hexter Prize for his first submission to a national competition. In 2001, his fellow exhibitors at the California Art Club (CAC) 91st annual members’ exhibition awarded him the Gold Medal for sculpture. He is a fellow of the NSS and a signature member of the CAC.

Bácsi, who fled Hungary with his family in 1956, began sculpting in clay and hand carving a variety of materials as a child and later began working with alabaster and bronze. Drawn to stone carving, he apprenticed with master carvers in Italy in the 1970s. The marble for his projects is statuario crema, venata delicata, from the Cave di Michelangelo, the quarries established by Michelangelo 500 years ago. While making sculpture is his passion, he also feels compelled to pass on his knowledge as it was passed to him by Italian masters.

To RSVP for the master class, contact Randy Toland at (805) 493-3025 or toland@callutheran.edu by Feb. 19.

The gallery is in Soiland Humanities Center, which is located on the south side of Memorial Parkway near Regent Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus. F Building is located near Pioneer Avenue just north of the Swenson Center for the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

CLU’s Art Department is sponsoring the free exhibit and class. For more information, call Michael Pearce at (805) 444-7716 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu/kwan_fong.