A reception was held at the FAVA Gallery on Main Street this Saturday presenting Paul O’Keeffe, whose sculpture exhibit will be up at the gallery through Sunday, May 14. Paul O’Keeffe, a native of Ireland, is an art professor at Kent State University and has had many exhibitions both in the United States and abroad, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

This exhibit, titled “I’m in distress. I need a caress. What do I get?” is a collection of brightly colored, angular sculptures constructed mostly out of steel, fabric and plastic. The usage of the neon colors and the artificial materials do not refer to nature in any way and instead represent an urban environment.

The title of the show and the individual pieces themselves spring from a song by the Buzzcocks, an English post-punk band popular in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

“This was a time when art was in a state of confusion, the sort of transitions between modern and post-modern art,” O’Keeffe said. The collection is not a response to this question, but more an expression of the ambivalence around this issue.

Paul O’Keeffe does not title his pieces and usually does not provide artist statements. For this reason, it is not hard to imagine that one might completely misinterpret the exhibit. Even so, O’Keeffe’s sculptures in themselves are extremely original and the display has something unique to offer those who appreciate modern art.

The FAVA Gallery mainly features contemporary Ohio artists. Paul O’Keeffe’s show will be followed by a quilt exhibition titled “Artist as Quiltmaker XII” which will be up during the week of Commencement.