Two artists’ varied interpretations of mortality will be explored through a compelling, mixed-media exhibition aptly entitled “Morbid Curiosity,” at the DePaul University Art Gallery, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., from Jan. 19 through March 9.

Both Ronald Gonzalez and Sally Thomas use assemblages of materials in their work, but they take very different approaches to communicate a common theme: the fragility of the human existence.

Gonzalez uses animal bones, teeth, wax and rusting metal to construct figures that resemble life-size, fragmentary human skeletons. His installation, “Catacomb,”consists of 76 life-size skeletal figures. “They are disturbing and beautiful, and in this massive group, they look like an army of the dead,” said Louise Lincoln, director of the art gallery.

An assistant professor of sculpture at State University of New York at Binghamton, Gonzalez has exhibited his works widely at galleries around the country. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Artist Grant.

Thomas’ work, entitled “Of Another World,” also centers on decay and deterioration, but illustrates the concept through the use of ordinary materials, such as fabric scraps, paper and buttons. “Instead of feeling that you’re looking at a person in a state of decrepitude, her work feels like you’re looking at someone’s odd, scattered possessions, like the attic of an abandoned house,” explained Lincoln.

Thomas lives and works in Manhattan, Kan. where she earned a master’s degree in fine arts from Kansas State University. She has most recently exhibited at the Mulvane Museum of Art in Topeka, Kan.

“For these artists, the terrifying fragility of the body is a rich and challenging topic,” said Laura Fatemi, curator of the exhibition. “Viewing their work can be a cathartic experience, for it is this intensity of vision that engages the audience to confront their own fears and terrors incited by the subject matter.”

An opening night reception will be held from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on January 19. At 3:30 p.m., a discussion and lecture on the artists’ works will be held in Room 417 of the John T. Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave. Gonzalez will give a slide presentation and lecture, and Bill North, senior curator at the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, will lecture on the work of Gonzalez and Thomas. Both events are free and open to the public.

For more information about this exhibition and future exhibitions at the DePaul Art Gallery, call 773/325-7506 or visit the gallery’s Web site at www.depaul.edu/~gallery.