Gallery • 16 Photos

Tessa Bonnema

He was a man respected and loved by his community at Bob Jones University. One student is quoted as saying “he employed his formidable intelligence to make us into artists and feed our souls.” He was a teacher, division chair and an artist. His name is Emery Bopp, and BJU is hosting an exhibition of his work until Feb. 12 inside the Sargent Art Building. His son, Mr. Jay Bopp, an art and design professor at BJU, will lecture on his late father’s life and work at 5:30 p.m., Jan. 30, in Levinson Hall.

Emery Bopp began his career as a teacher at BJU in 1951. Four years later, he became division chair, a position he held until 1994. He retired completely in 1998. In all, he served 47 years. He died in 2007, and his works are on display as part of the Art+Design Division’s Legacy Exhibition.

The pieces on display are a hallmark of Emery Bopp’s style — 3D works of art. Jay Bopp said the display is the first time his father’s dimensional works are displayed on their own. Emery Bopp adopted this style in the mid 1960s.

“Dad employed a low-relief assemblage or “construction” approach, with three-dimensional elements projecting off of the canvas, or more often a wooden panel or substrate, which was strong enough to support the attached elements,” Jay Bopp said.

Emery Bopp found his inspiration in many places, but his faith was primary. Jay Bopp said his father was interested in the connections between the Jewish beliefs and Christianity displayed in “Place Setting With Chalice” and “Messiah Menorah.”

Jay Bopp said as viewers walk through the exhibition, they should see “both representation, things that look like something, as well as non-representation, shapes that do not directly reference objects we see around us.”

He promises more information on the different pieces during his upcoming lecture, where he will celebrate the life and art of his father, Emery Bopp.