A reception and performance Tuesday, March 17 at 5 p.m. will open two photography exhibitions at Louisiana Tech School of Art galleries.

The photography exhibitions –“Perforated Corporal Perceptions” by Pinky Bass in the Main Gallery and “Interiors” by Christine Shank in the Bellocq Gallery — will run through April 14.

The performance, “Pentagram of Loss,” will be done by Bass in the Main Gallery and will include a solo cello accompaniment by Karl Puljak, director of the School of Architecture, said Mary Louise Carter, director of the galleries.

“Pentagram of Loss,” was conceived by Bass after the deaths of her son, only sister, mother, father and artist/collaborator Kitty Couch over a five-year period. This performance was designed by Bass and Renee Cheveallier. It debuted last fall at the Halsey Gallery in Charleston, S.C.

Bass is a nationally recognized photographer with work in collections including the Polaroid Corporation, numerous museums and publications such as “Aperture” and “The Pinhole Journal.” Most recently, Bass has been stitching on photographs and perforating photographs that are fed into music box sculptures so that one can actually “hear” the photographic image.

Shank is an artist working predominantly to construct a narrative tableau, the practice of visual storytelling in contemporary photography. Most recently Shank”s artwork has been included in the publications of The Magenta Foundation”s Emerging Photographers “Flash Forward 2007” and was also selected for publication through the Booksmart Studio in Rochester, N.Y.

“In this series of photographs, I strive to create a narrative that delivers the viewer into a place where a story of humanness can be contemplated,” Shank is quoted from her Web site about the “Interiors” exhibit.

The Louisiana Tech art galleries are located in the Visual Arts Center between Tech Drive and Mayfield Street, next to the Natatorium, and across from A. E. Phillips School. The galleries are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free. For more information please call the School of Art at (318) 257-3909.

Written by Reggie Owens