Fine Arts Center Gallery

Leo Mazow, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Art History at University of Arkansas, will be signing copies of his new book, Thomas Hart Benton and the American Sound, at Nightbird Books on Saturday, April 28, at 7:00pm. Nightbird Books is located at 205 W Dickson Ave, in Fayetteville.

Charles Clary was born in 1980 in Morristown, Tennessee. He received his BFA in painting with honors from Middle Tennessee State University and his MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has had a solo exhibition at Galerie EVOLUTION-Pierre Cardin in Paris, France, completed a three week residency in Lacoste France, completed a painting assistantship with Joe Amrhein of Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn NYC, and had work acquired by fashion designer Pierre Cardin and gallery owner James Cohan. As of 2012 Charles had been featured in numerous print and Internet interviews including, WIRED magazine (US and UK), Hifructose.com, Beautifuldecay.com and Bluecanvas Magazine. He has also been featured in publications including “Papercraft 2” published by Gestalten and “PUSH Paper” published by Lark Books, “Paper Art” published by ArtPower International Publishing, and “Paper Works” published by Sandu Publishing. Charles has lectured nationally and exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally in numerous solo and group shows, is represented by The Rymer Galery in Nashville, TN, the Diana Lowenstein Gallery in Miami, FL, and currently lives and works in Murfreesboro, TN.

Clary will deliver a lecture on his work on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30 pm, in room 213 of the Fine Arts Center. A selection of Clary’s recent work will be on display in the hallway cases through April 27.

On April 23, The Society of Art Historians, along with Associated Student Government and Eta Sigma Phi, will present a lecture by Steven Ellis, entitled Pompeii From the Bottom Up. Ellis (Ph.D. 2005, University of Sydney) is a professor of archaeology at the University of Cincinnati, and director of the Porta Stabia research project in Pompeii. Ellis studies not only the archaeology of ancient Greece and Italy, but also the popular social customs that influenced the development of these sites. The lecture, which is free to attend and open to the public, will take place at 7:00 pm in the Graduate Education Auditorium at the University of Arkansas.

Yan Zhao’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, Ant Tribe, runs from April 9 to 13 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery, with reception Thursday, April 12, at 4:30 pm. Zhao was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. Her videos and installations reference China’s ‘ant tribe,’ the tens of thousands of young college graduates living in the crowded urban centers, so characterized because they are industrious and educated, yet live in cramped housing and earn very low wages.

The Department of Art at the University of Arkansas is pleased to announce the installation of 18 Verticals, 70 Horizontals, a new public artwork by sculpture students Adam Crosson and Robert Lemming. Adam is a graduate of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and is currently pursuing post baccalaureate studies in sculpture. Robert graduated with his BA in Sculpture from the University of Arkansas in December 2011 and recently held his first solo exhibition at sUgAR (University of Arkansas Student Gallery) in Bentonville.

18 Verticals, 70 Horizontals is a student-led outdoor work composed primarily of cedar and poplar, which has been shaped using cold bending and bent lamination techniques. The 8’ tall piece, formed in the general shape of a coil, illuminated from the interior, and scaled so that viewers may enter the work, will be situated for the next five years on the south lawn of the Fine Arts Building. The design evolved from a site-specific collaborative project assignment introduced last year to students enrolled in ARTS 3213 Sculpture II: Construction Methods and Mixed Media and ARTS 4213: Mixed Media and Spatial Context, courses instructed by Assistant Professor Bethany Springer. Spatial experience, patterns of pedestrian movement on campus, and a balance of handcrafted and automated form all ultimately contributed to the design. Site preparations are currently underway and the installation will continue until the first week of May.

This collaborative initiative was made possible through the generous support of the Associated Student Government, the Contemporary Sculpture Society, NWA Steel, Flynt and Son Hardwoods Inc, and through instrumental expertise and effort provided by University of Arkansas Facilities Management staff including Mike Johnson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities, Jerry Ramey (Carpentry Shop), Alex Ford III and Gary Williams (Paint Shop), Randall Ramey and Rodney Hughes (Electrical Shop), Robert Caudle and Matthew Stafford (Grounds Shop), and Kelley Sharp and Warren Pingel (Construction Services). Guidance and support was also generously provided by Tim LaTourette and Rachel Smith in the Fay Jones School of Architecture, Jeannie Hulen and Bethany Springer in the Department of Art, and the Landscape and Grounds Committee. A special thanks goes to Jill Anthes, Campus Planner, for her resolute leadership, organization, and energy in procuring resources for the project.

A catered reception for the commemoration of 18 Verticals, 70 Horizontals is planned for Monday, May 7 from 4:30 – 7pm at the Southeast lawn of the Fine Arts Building. This reception is free and open to the public.

Artist Tip Toland will deliver a lecture on her work Thursday, April 5th, at 5:30 pm, in Room 213 of the Fine Arts Center. Toland’s works refer to her relationship with the unseen, ineffable aspects of the human psyche. Her work is allegorical and dreamlike, with a sense of intimacy heightened through the physicality of her medium (ceramics). Toland has received a Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award and a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship. She received an MFA in ceramics from Montana State University and a BFA in ceramics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has taught at Louisiana State University, University of Montana, Montana State University, University of Washington and Seward Park Clay Studio. She is represented by Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY. Her work is included in many prestigious collections, including that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work can be see online at www.tiptoland.com

Image: Monkey Mind, Stoneware, porcelain, paint, chalk pastel, 27” H x 25” W x 38”, 2010; courtesy of the artist.

Gongke Li’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, Inspired Living, will be on view April 2 – 6 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery. Li is originally from China. He began graduate study at UA, with emphasis in photography, in 2009. Inspired Living is a juxtaposition of found images, in which he explores the shift of values in contemporary China. A reception will be held on Tuesday, April 3 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. The reception is free to attend and open to the public.

(above: clockwise from top left, details of works by John C. Kelley, Gongke Li, Mauricio Linares-Aguilar, John Orr, Luke Knox, and Yan Zhao, all courtesy of the artists)

…so here’s a list of what’s here and what’s coming. Please note, this list includes exhibitions at the Fine Arts Center Gallery, sUgAR Gallery (University of Arkansas Student Gallery, in Bentonville), the Anne Kittrell Art Gallery (a University Programs / student-run space in the Arkansas Union), and the Walton Arts Center.

Department of Art Exhibitions for April & May:

Spiral, an installation by Mauricio Linares-Aguilar, will be on view at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center Gallery from March 26 to March 30. The exhibition marks Linares-Aguilar’s candidacy for the Master of Fine Arts degree. Mauricio Linares-Aguilar was born in Ahuachapán, El Salvador, in 1966. He works in a variety of media, often locally sourced, seeking concrete relationships of color, form, and light that paradoxically suggest the infinite possibilities inherent in our lives. A reception for Spiral will be held Thursday, March 29, at 4 pm.

Luke Knox: Mythic Remains at sUgAR Gallery. A BFA thesis exhibition by Luke Knox will be on view March 29 – April 1, with reception on March 30, beginning at 5:30 pm. Knox’s paintings and sculptures combine collaged imagery with scavenged materials, including wire, concrete, cartoon characters, toys, nature illustrations, trash, and animal skins.

Gongke Li’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, Inspired Living, will be on view April 2 – 6 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery. Li is originally from China. He began graduate study at UA, with emphasis in photography, in 2009. Inspired Living is a juxtaposition of found images, in which he explores the shift of values in contemporary China. A reception will be held on Tuesday, April 3 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. The reception is free to attend and open to the public.

Marais des Cygnes, John Orr’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, will be on view at the sUgAR Gallery in Bentonville from April 5 to 15, with reception Friday April 6 at 6:00 pm. The Marais des Cygnes is a river in southeast Kansas and western Missouri, near a Bleeding Kansas-era massacre site of the same name. The river is notorious for flash flooding, was named by French explorers and translates to “Marsh of the Swans.” The name is thought to refer to the abundant Trumpeter Swans once found there. The work is about a fictional wandering car thief and alcoholic named Vernon, the bad guy in a novel written by the artist. Vernon is obsessed with the distant past, particularly the time before the Louisiana Purchase and the Louisiana of his Cajun grandfather. A fisherman, bird-watcher and alligator enthusiast with a phobia of cartoon penguins, he moves from town to town, throughout the South and the West, stealing, drinking, gambling and conjuring up the history of an ever-changing American landscape.

Vernon functions as an alter-ego for the artist as well as a window into the past, an age of metal motel keys, fast American cars, paper road maps, wooden fishing lures, service stations, windup clocks, glass motel ashtrays, postcards, obsolete casino poker chips, cards, dominoes, and typewriters. The exhibition will include paintings, drawings, photographs and installation work.

Following the reception for Marais Des Cygnes, at 8pm, there will be a free performance by the Memphis-based a cappella hip hop / soul duo, Artistik Approach.

Yan Zhao’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, Ant Tribe, runs from April 9 to 13 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery, with reception Thursday, April 12, at 4:30 pm. Zhao was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. Her videos and installations reference China’s ‘ant tribe,’ the tens of thousands of young college graduates living in the crowded urban centers, so characterized because they are industrious and educated, yet live in cramped housing and earn very low wages.

Works by Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts students will be on display April 16 – 19 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery, followed by works by MFA students April 23 – 27. Anne Kittrell Gallery will also host an exhibition of MFA work, from April 27 to May 1.

Living Circles, a Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition by Lydia Clark and Randi Henderson, will be on view at the sUgAR Gallery in Bentonville, April 19 – 22. Randi Henderson and Lydia Clark both work in a variety of media, including ceramics, photography, fiber, painting, and graphic design. Much of the work is autobiographical and revolves around issues affecting woman and children in America. During this show, the gallery will be accepting donations of art supplies for the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter and Peace at Home Women’s Shelter. Additionally, half of the proceeds of work sold will be donated to help pay for art supplies for these organizations.

A catered opening reception celebrating the artists will be held April 20th from 6:00 to 8:00. Catering will be provided by The Little Bread Company of Fayetteville.

Pixel; Ghost, John Kelley’s MFA Thesis Exhibition, will be on view in the sUgAR Gallery in Bentonville from April 26 to May 6. Kelley uses elements of narrative structure and cinematic clichés to explore ideas of memory, expectation and transitional states of mind. His video and sound works bring the formal considerations of drawing and painting into time-based media, while pulling from his experience in digital media and film score composition. Kelley recently wrote and recorded the score for the award-winning 2011 documentary, The Gray Seasons.

A closing reception for Pixel; Ghost will be held on May 4th at 5pm, coinciding with Bentonville’s First Friday events. The reception is free to attend and open to the public.

Excerpts from Pixel; Ghost can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/user6735048
Learn more about The Gray Seasons here: http://www.thegrayseasons.com/

Glenna Worrell’s MFA Thesis Exhibition will be on view in the Fine Arts Center Gallery from April 30 to May 4. Worrell, a Master of Fine Arts student in ceramics, examines the role and the surrounding aesthetics of 50s, 60s, and 70s homemakers, creating works that can serve functionally or purely decoratively.

A BFA Student group exhibition will be on view May 7 – 12 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery.

In the hallway cases: Recent paintings by Baxter Knowlton will be on view in the hallway cases from through April 13. Knowlton grew up in Oxford and Jackson, MS, and now lives in Little Rock, AR. He studied Art and English at Yale University, graduating in 1996. Since moving to Little Rock in 2002, he has worked mainly on commissioned portraits. He currently shows at Fischer Galleries in Jackson, MS and Gallery 26 in Little Rock. The Arkansas Arts Council awarded him a Fellowship Grant in 2007. He exhibited at the Historic Arkansas Museum the same year. The Oxford Conference for the Book used his portraits of southern writers for their 2004, 2005, and 2006 posters. His work is in collections throughout the country.

Also in the cases from March 12 to April 13 will be an exhibition of recent work by post-baccalaureate Ceramics students Jennifer Kirkpatrick and Adrian Leffinguell, and a group of tin-type photographs of UA Advanced Photography students and faculty, produced in a workshop led by visiting artist Keliy Anderson-Staley.

Continuing at at Walton Arts Center is Jeannie Hulen: Made in the U.S.A.. Jeannie Hulen’s sculptural installations challenge artistic conventions, cultural norms, and the way the marketplace shapes personal, gender and cultural identities. See original post here.

Department of Art sponsored Lectures & Visiting Artists for April & May:

On April 3rd, Tanya Paul, Ph.D, will deliver a lecture entitled “Drawing on Houdon: The Mysterious Case of a Forgotten Study by Pierre-Antoine Mongin.” Dr. Paul is The Ruth G. Hardman Curator of European Art at The Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK. The lecture will be held at 7:00 pm in Room 213 of the Fine Arts Center.

Artist Tip Toland will deliver a lecture on her work Thursday, April 5th, at 5pm, in Room 213 of the Fine Arts Center. Toland’s works refer to her relationship with the unseen, ineffable aspects of the human psyche. Her work is allegorical and dreamlike, with a sense of intimacy heightened through the physicality of her medium (ceramics). Toland has received a Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award and a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship. She received an MFA in ceramics from Montana State University and a BFA in ceramics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has taught at Louisiana State University, University of Montana, Montana State University, University of Washington and Seward Park Clay Studio. She is represented by Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY. Her work is included in many prestigious collections, including that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work can be see online at www.tiptoland.com

Charles Clary will deliver a lecture about his work on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30 pm in Room 213 of the Fine Arts Center. Charles Clary was born in 1980 in Morristown, Tennessee. He received his BFA in painting with honors from Middle Tennessee State University and his MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Most recently, he exhibited at Galerie EVOLUTION-Pierre Cardin in Paris, France, completed a three week residency in Lacoste France, completed a painting assistantship with Joe Amrhein of Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn NYC, and had work acquired by fashion designer Pierre Cardin and gallery owner James Cohan. As of 2011 Charles had been featured in numerous print and Internet interviews including, WIRED magazine (US and UK), Hifructose.com, Beautifuldecay.com and Bluecanvas Magazine. He has also been featured in publications including “Papercraft 2” published by Gestalten and “PUSH Paper” published by Lark Books. Charles has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally in numerous solo and group shows, is represented by The Rymer Galery in Nashville, TN, the Diana Lowenstein Gallery in Miami, FL, and currently lives and works in Murfreesboro, TN. View his work at charlesclary.wordpress.com.

Printmaker Richard Stauffacher will deliver a lecture on his work on Thursday, May 3, at 5:30 pm in Room 213 of the Fine Arts Center. Stauffacher was born in Russellville, in January 1948. He completed his BS in Fine Art at John Brown University in 1975. Following graduation he moved to Fayetteville, and for a period of about eleven years worked at developing a career in etching, focusing primarily on the natural world as his motif. It was during this period of time that Richard became associated with Island International Artists. In September of 1986 Richard moved to the state of Washington to become a part of the permanent staff at Island International Artists as Master Printer at their headquarters on Guemes Island. He was extensively involved with setting up Black Raven Press, working with numerous artists and printmakers to produce new images and issue them in editions of etchings.

UA GALLERY INFO:

Fine Arts Center Gallery
Fine Arts Center, University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 – 5:30; Sunday, 2:00 – 5:00.
Director: Sam King (stk004@uark.edu / 479-575-7987)

sUgAR (University of Arkansas Student Gallery)
114 W. Central Ave., Bentonville, AR 72712 | 479.273.5305
Hours: Thursday 2:00 – 6:00; Friday & Saturday 10:00 – 5:00; Sunday 1:00 – 5:00
Student Directors:
Cambry Pierce-Duperier-Newton (cpierced@uark.edu)
Kat Wilson (kaw010@uark.edu)

Anne Kittrell Art Gallery
4th Floor, Arkansas Union Building
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Hours: Mon & Wed 10:30 – 6 :00; Tues, Thurs, & Fri 10:00 – 6:00
479-575-5255
Student Director: Lana Hackler (upart@uark.edu)

Fine Arts Center Gallery, sUgAR, and Anne Kittrell Art Gallery events are free and open to the public.

Spiral, an installation by Mauricio Linares-Aguilar, will be on view at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center Gallery from March 26 to March 30. The exhibition marks Linares-Aguilar’s candidacy for the Master of Fine Arts degree.

Mauricio Linares-Aguilar was born in Ahuachapán, El Salvador, in 1966. He works in a variety of media, often locally sourced, seeking concrete relationships of color, form, and light that paradoxically suggest the infinite possibilities inherent in our lives.

A reception for Spiral will be held Thursday, March 29, at 4 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Kevin Murphy, Ph.D, Curator of American Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, will deliver a lecture on March 15, at 5:45 pm in room 213 of the Fine Arts Center building. Kevin Murphy came to Crystal Bridges from The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., where he served as Bradford and Christine Mishler Associate Curator of American Art.

Murphy has curated exhibitions on American art from the 19th century to the present. Most recently, he organized “Taxing Visions: Financial Episodes in Late Nineteenth-Century American Art” with Leo Mazow, associate professor of art history at the University of Arkansas. The exhibition was featured in The Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio.

Murphy is the author of exhibition catalogs, essays and scholarly articles, as well as a frequent lecturer on American art and presenter at academic conferences. Prior to beginning his curatorial career, Murphy taught art history at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Murphy holds a doctoral degree in art history from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where his work was supported by fellowships from the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Henry Luce Foundation. He also has a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College of The Claremont Colleges in California.

Image: William Merritt Chase, Portrait of Worthington Whittredge, ca. 1890, courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art