Homage to Then/Small Worlds by Louis Ocepek

homage to then contradiction

Date: 5/6/26
Contact: Eva Gabriella Flynn,
Education and Outreach Coordinator, University Art Museum at NMSU, artmuseum@nmsu.edu, 575-646-2185

Homage to Then/Small Worlds by Louis Ocepek

Las Cruces, NM–This summer, the NMSU Art Museum welcomes the return of Louis Ocepek, local artist, former Department Head, and Professor Emeritus of the NMSU Department of Art for his solo exhibition: Homage to Then/Small Worlds. This exhibition opens June 11, 2026 and will be on display in the museum’s Mullennix Bridge Gallery through September 12, 2026.

Homage to Then/Small Worlds is a two-part exhibition of direct gravure prints, gouache paintings, and digital prints that pay tribute to a history of artistic influences and explore the abstracted physical world. Homage to Then comprises sixteen gravure prints and four gouache paintings, while Small Worlds features an array of acrylic and gouache paintings on paper and chromogenic prints. The detailed selection in Homage to Then/Small Worlds reflects on the aesthetics of time, space, and the perceptions of our physical and metaphysical worlds.

About the Artists:

 

Arch Jones

Louis Ocepek is an artist and designer born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He studied design and fine art at Wayne State University, and earned his graduate degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He was a professor in the art departments of Montana State University, Portland State University, and New Mexico State University, where he served as Department Head for several years while teaching additional courses in the NMSU Honors College. Ocepek works in a variety of media–exhibiting prints, paintings and hybrid works in national and international group and solo exhibitions. His work is included in the public art collections of Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and Texas. Ocepek is the author of Graphic Design: Vision, Process, Product and his design work has been featured in publications such as Graphis International and The Painter Wow!.

Programming:

Hommage to Then/Small Worlds is on view from June 11 through September 12, 2026. Join us for the opening reception with Louis Ocepek on Thursday, June 11 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. A two-part presentation from Ocepek will be held on September 2 and September 9, where audiences will hear Ocepek speak on his career and watch a demonstration of the techniques explored in Hommage to Then/Small Worlds. 

Concurrent with Homage to Then/Small Worlds, the UAM presents Mapping Spaces: Selections from the Lannan Foundation Gift to the NMSU Permanent Art Collection in the Contemporary Art Gallery. This exhibition will showcase selections from the generous gift of 63 works of art from the Lannan Foundation to the NMSU Permanent Art Collection in 2024. The exhibition will open Thursday, June 11 alongside Homage to Then/Small Worlds and will be on display through September 5, 2026.

Museum Information:

UAM is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm, at 1308 E. University Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88003. Admission to all programming is free and open to the public. For more information and a detailed calendar with associated programs and dates please visit uam.nmsu.edu.

Image Credits: 

Louis Ocepek, Homage to Then: Contradictions Unresolved, 2025. Gouache, ink, and acrylic, 29.5 x 23 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Links to high-resolution Images:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L2E5f592b4Ji200odMO1HDgF_e_UW9sIfoqesArGDKY/edit?tab=t.0

For more information on exhibitions, visit Upcoming Exhibitions