May 8, 2008 Dollars & Sense
May Long time member makes estate gift to the Jonson Gallery at UNM. In 2006, renowned artist Paul Re made an estate gift to UNM that contains over 3,000 of his works. His gift will eventually provide for the Paul Re Sculpture Garden to be constructed in front of the National Historic building that was Raymond Jonson’s residence. The Jonson Gallery will move to the UNM Art Museum next to Popejoy Hall, with the Paul Re Gallery beside it offering rotating exhibitions of Re’s works.
The connections between art and physics often go unrecognized. Yet artists have visualized, and even anticipated, scientific discoveries throughout history. Leonardo da Vinci envisioned the helicopter and numerous other inventions centuries before engineers built them. How do we envision space, time and light in the studio or in the contemporary lab? SLFCU member Paul Re is an artist and physicist who thinks deeply about theoretical, aesthetic and physical connectedness.
Re explains his artistic vision: “I conceptualize mathematical models and use my art to communicate them. Much of my art derives from closed curves. They represent the interconnectedness of everything in existence from the scale of the universe down to the subatomic. In sociology, my curves constitute a prayer and visual model for the peaceful interaction of human beings. In ecology these closed curves symbolize the dynamic interdependence of all species and encourage humankind to conserve and use thoughtfully the physical and spiritual bounty of nature. When reverence for our natural, cultural and scientific heritage guides our practical actions, then our diverse world civilization can evolve to that higher fulfillment which I believe is the intent of life.”
As presented in his acclaimed book, The Dance of the Pencil, many of Re’s two dimensional pieces are rendered in graphite. In fact, critics have called him a “virtuoso of the pencil.” He also creates paintings, sculpture and recently has started making hybrid hand-digital prints or Reograms.
Re is a native New Mexican who graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1972 with a degree in physics. After a period of solitude, he emerged as an artist whose mission is to explore the beauty of science. He returned to Albuquerque in 1977 after his work had gained acceptance in California and Japan. And, his exhibit of Touchable Art for the visually impaired toured the United States. He estimates that over 100,000 sighted and unsighted people have touched the reliefs.
Re also writes music for the classical guitar and poetry. He is currently working on an animated film that adds the fourth dimension of time to the evolution of his two and three dimensional shapes.
Paul Re has been a member of SLFCU for over twenty years. He says, “The staff has always gone out of its way to help me. They have all been consistently caring.” He summarizes his notion of our interconnectedness this way. “The universe is an art work. Artists extend the creation of it. Scientists study it. We are all creating our own personal universes, and we can all work to build bridges with others.”
A gift of peace
In 2006 Re endowed the Paul Bartlett Re Peace Prize at the University of New Mexico Foundation to further the vital pursuit of peace and understanding among people of the world. The prize is awarded to anyone associated with UNM who has brought the subject of peace to the forefront in local or world affairs. For more information, please visit: www.unm.edu/jonsong/Paul%20Re.htm
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