A Kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder, Dan Steeves; 44.7 cm x 60.6 cm, © 2005

WENHAM, MA.- Gordon College is proud to present its latest exhibit The House as Fortress: The Dichotomy of Symbolic Structure, featuring twenty prints by Dan Steeves that explore the subtle contradictions inherent in the notion of the house as a fortress. Through his work, Steeves suggests that the same fortress that offers protection from the outside may also confine and isolate those inside. His concern for not just the structure, but for the human history of the place - the relationship, the memories, the meaning - is powerful, engaging and prominent in this exhibit.

“Dan Steeves is an extraordinary printmaker working with what might appear the most ordinary of subject matters,” says Bruce Herman, Director of the Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon. “Most of us view our house (whether it's adobe or clapboard or a mud hut) as a place of refuge and safety and family. At least that is our desire -- though much of the world lives without being able to realize that dream -- whether due to war or poverty or broken families. But in the developed world our homes have also become a status symbol, an ostentatious display of wealth, position, and power. Steeves provides a surprising entry point to an important realm of inquiry: what is the meaning of a sense of place, of home, and of the identity which flows from these things?” (courtesy www.Artdaily.org)