WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A Midwestern State University art professor was honored across several states for his oil on-panel piece “Norepinephrine” which won second place in a prestigious art show.

Artist Jason Bly, who has taught various drawing and painting classes at MSU Texas since 2017, received recognition for his artwork and award at the 2023 Irene Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 20, 2023.

According to a press release from MSU, the competitive exhibition welcomed submissions in digital and traditional forms from artists in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Of the 594 works of art submitted, only 35 were chosen for the exhibit.

Similarly to his other works, “Norepinephrine” examines present-day situations through the lens of past predictions, the press release stated.

“These forecasts, whether in scientific journals or science fiction, saw beyond the year 2000 to a variety of outcomes,” Bly said in his artist statement. “The hope of clean energy, security, and ability to travel to new worlds was coupled with a sense of fear through political tensions, death from an unseen attack, and lacking the ability to control our own creations.”

The awards were presented by juror and visiting assistant professor at Bucknell University, Dr. Rachel Trusty, who remarked on Bly’s effective use of hyper-realism.

“Bly’s trompe-l’oeil shadow box painting ‘Norepinephrine’ mixes classical referents, including a Greek sculpture with atomic-bomb preparation materials from the ‘50s to address current anxieties,” Trusty said. “A painted, hyper-realistic string connects each section, suggesting these tense feelings will continue from the past, far into the future.”

The exhibition, which is free of charge, is still running and can be enjoyed until Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at the Arts & Sciences Center in Pine Bluff, AR.

For more information on the Rosenzweig Exhibition, visit the ASC’s website. For more information on Bly and his art, visit his website or Instagram page.