The Visual Arts Gallery presents: Robert Burnier: Blind Histories
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(University Park, Illinois) - Governors State University's (GovState) Visual Arts Gallery will feature the Robert Burnier: Blind Histories exhibition now through September 18, 2026.
In Burnier's words, his art is “folded, compressed forms as evolving records of touch, movement, and color, where identity and transformation emerge through process rather than representation. Rooted in diasporic African and Western cosmologies, my sculptures draw on color studies inspired by ancient African, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian objects, shaped in part by research at Chicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.”
The exhibition is on view by appointment only by contacting via email: jstevenson@govst.edu.
There will be an Artist's Talk and Reception on Wednesday, September 16 starting at 2 p.m. with the reception running from 4 - 7 p.m. The event is free and open to all.
Burnier lives and works in Chicago, Illinois, and he received his Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute and his bachelor's in Computer Science from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. He has been a resident at the Ragdale Foundation for the Arts and recently received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2025.
Governors State University (GovState), recently voted the Best in the Southland, is a 4-year, comprehensive institution of higher education located in Chicago’s Southland. GovState serves nearly 4,500 students in four academic colleges: Arts and Sciences, Health and Human Services, Business, and Education and Human Development. Home to 2025-26 Men’s Basketball CCAC champions, GovState hosts 16 athletic teams.