Abstract artist Todd Chilton wants students to understand what it’s like to be a professional artist.

He wants them to know that it takes hard work and dedication to become successful. And he wants them to know that they need to just get out in the world and create their art.

Chilton will discuss those ideas along with aspects of his own artistic journey and work during his free lecture on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Haggar Auditorium at Grand Valley State University’s Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences building.

The lecture is presented by the GVSU Visiting Artist Committee and Art & Design Department as a way to help students enrich their understanding of contemporary art practices, said assistant art professor Hsiao-ping Chen.

“For the art and design community, Chilton is particularly important to bring to the campus not only to inspire students of all levels to begin to learn how a professional young artist communicates concepts and ideas through imagery, but also to serve as an inspiration for students interested in pursuing art as a professional career,” Chen said.

Chilton has given several lectures at universities across the country and said that hearing any artist talk about their own work is very helpful to aspiring students.

“It’s always interesting to see how other artists talk about their ideas,” Chilton said. “One thing that artists kind of have to learn how to do is talk about their work and a lot of people choose to talk about it in different ways and it’s always interesting to see how people talk about them – and then how they move through ideas.”

Chilton’s lecture is titled “Angled” after his exhibit at the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago. He said his titles generally refer to his work as descriptions.

As an abstract artist, Chilton uses a lot of sharp angles, lines and colors. Chen described his paintings as “fun and exciting – they are like color puzzles.”

He said that students pursuing abstract art will learn a lot from Chilton’s work because when looked at carefully, “his paintings demand interpretation, appreciation, and an aesthetic attitude that searches for simplification, reduction, and stylization in terms of how images and objects are rendered.”

Chilton lives and works in Chicago and has never given a lecture at GVSU before. He said he is excited to discuss his artwork with students that he doesn’t have experience with, and to see the energy they possess.

“Students are artists as well they’re just at a different stage and I think seeing someone who is more of a professional artist coming and talking about their work, especially if the artist kinda shares a little bit about their career and how that has gone – I think that’s very instructive. As a student you’re kinda focused on learning and kinda figuring out ideas, and you don’t always get exposure to how careers work,” Chilton said.

Chen said bringing Chilton to GVSU’s campus will help inspire students of all artistic levels to begin their professional careers.

“Anything that happens to you, you have to make happen,” Chilton said. “Work hard and don’t wait to make things happen.”

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