The Las Vegas Art Museum (LVAM) is pleased to present the exhibition 702 Series: Stephen Hendee, Be My Suicide, a new site-specific installation by Las Vegas-based artist Stephen Hendee. The exhibition will be on view in the LVAM Studio Gallery from February 20 through April 27, 2008. The LVAM Members' Preview Reception will be held on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 from 5-7 pm. Stephen Hendee will host an experimental sound performance utilizing new musical instruments, designed and played by the artist during the Members' Preview Reception at 6pm.


Entitled Be My Suicide, the exhibition will examine the darker recesses of Stephen Hendee's evolving sculpture and installation practice. Most striking is Hendee's decision to strip all color from his installation and only work in black and white. Presented as a series of enigmatic site constructions, digital objects, and images within the Studio Gallery space, the exhibition will pose the question to viewers: "When nothing compels us more than to loose everything we care for, whose suicide is it?"


Stephen Hendee has lived in Las Vegas since 2004, when he began his tenure as Assistant Professor of Sculpture in the Department of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Originally from Santa Monica, CA, he studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute and received his M.F.A from Stanford University in 1993. Known for his room-size, luminous installation pieces, Hendee has recently exhibited at the Nelson Gallery at University of California—Davis; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT;  Birmingham Museum of Art, AL; and Kemper Museum Of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO.


Stephen Hendee, Be My Suicide is the third installment in LVAM's ongoing 702 Series, which  features solo exhibitions by artists who were born or raised in Las Vegas, who initiated their careers in Las Vegas, or who presently live and work in the our city. The series showcases works by artists who represent Las Vegas in the broader national and international art communities.


702 Series: Stephen Hendee, Be My Suicide is made possible by LVAM's Joyce Mack Exhibitions Fund and James and Michelle Zeiter Exhibitions Fund. Additional support is provided by a Cirque du Soleil Community Support Grant for the Visual & Performing Arts.


The exhibition will be accompanied by a brochure that features an essay on Hendee's work by noted author and theorist Sylvère Lotringer, who serves as Professor of French Literature and Philosophy at Columbia University.


The Las Vegas Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, and is closed Mondays. General admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors 55 years and older, and $3 for students 13 years and older; children 12 and younger enter free when accompanied by an adult. For more information on exhibitions, membership, and education programs, please call (702) 360-8000, or visit www.lvam.org.