DURHAM, NC.- The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University has commissioned a large-scale sculptural installation by artist Pedro Lasch to accompany the exhibition “El Greco to Velázquez.” The installation will be on view through Jan. 18, 2009.

“Black Mirror/Espejo Negro: A Museum Installation by Pedro Lasch” incorporates 16 works from the Nasher Museum’s collection of pre-Columbian art, among them 2,000-year-old ceramic figures and a black obsidian mirror. In the installation, the ceramic figures are placed in front of black reflective panels through which images of Spanish old master paintings are visible.

The installation will be on view in one of the museum’s permanent collection galleries, opposite the exhibition “El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III,” a timed and ticketed show that will be on view Aug. 21 through Nov. 9.

Lasch was born and raised in Mexico City and has been based in New York and North Carolina since 1994. He is a member of the 16 Beaver Group in New York and recently was awarded the 2007 Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Award from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. An exhibition of his work, “Open Routines: Recent Projects by Pedro Lasch,” was on view at the Queens Museum in New York in 2006. He teaches art and art theory in Duke’s Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies.

“Pedro Lasch’s work invites a poetic and aesthetic dialogue between our permanent collection and two important upcoming exhibitions at the Nasher Museum,” said Kimerly Rorschach, the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the Nasher Museum. “This installation makes thought-provoking connections between ancient American cultures and art from what was the conquering Spanish empire.”

“Black Mirror/Espejo Negro: A Museum Installation by Pedro Lasch” will be complemented by programs at the Nasher Museum that include an opening reception and round table discussion on June 7, a panel discussion on Nov. 20 and a family day event.