PHILADELPHIA (October 19, 2010) – Imagine walking into a room and all around you golden nuggets are suspended in midair, close enough that you could reach out and grab them. Hooked? You should be. The latest exhibition of artist Michael Angelotti features such a display at Saint Joseph’s University Gallery from November 8 through December 10.

Angelotti says the exhibit, “It’s Only a Matter of Time,” centers on the recent boom in the gold market and employs both visual and aural components. “The audio is the most critical part of this exhibition,” he says. “It’s meant to illustrate how we are told we must invest in gold before it’s too late, yet at the same time buy into what may ultimately be another Wall Street scam.”

As viewers take in the gold-baited hooks around them, the 60-90 minute audio piece will loop quietly in the background. The nuggets, which were made professionally, are either gold-plated or gold leaf.

Intentionally controversial, the work encourages deeper thought about the current economic situation in the U.S. by creating a space in which viewers become “fish” lured toward the hooks and their glittering bait. “Michael uses common analogies to comment on the American worker being charmed into making big investments that primarily benefit financial moguls,” Jeanne Bracy, SJU Gallery coordinator, explains. “Viewers are drawn in by the shimmering gold pieces only to find piercing hooks.”

A graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pa., where he studied art history, Angelotti’s previous gallery shows have focused on large-scale ceramic installations.  “It’s Only a Matter of Time” was partially funded by a grant from the Puffin Foundation, an arts organization that supports emerging artists whose work may be excluded from mainstream notice due to their genre or social philosophy. Angelotti’s work is in permanent collections in galleries in Erie and Meadville, Pa., Layton, N.J., and at the Wichita Center for the Arts in Wichita, Kas.

The Saint Joseph's University Gallery is located in Boland Hall on Lapsley Lane, off of City Avenue, between 54th Street & Cardinal Avenue in Lower Merion. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Gallery will be closed during Thanksgiving Break, November 24-28, reopening on November 29. For more information, call 610-660-1840, or visit http://www.sju.edu/gallery.