Intermundia (Latin for “the spaces between worlds”), a Master of Arts Thesis Exhibition by Richard Cutshall, will be presented at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center Gallery March 27 – April 7, 2006. A reception will be held in the gallery Saturday, April 1st from 6:00 – 9:00 pm. The artist will also be creating work on site every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 1:00 – 4:00 pm throughout the run of the show. Fine Arts Center Gallery hours are 9:00 am – 5:30 pm Monday – Friday. Visitor parking is available in the UA parking structure located off Stadium Drive to the west of the Fine Arts Center.
This exhibition of sculpture and works on paper reflects the development of Cutshall’s artwork throughout his graduate course of study at the University of Arkansas. “I create art to capture or subjugate, and perhaps understand my fears, questions, and anxieties. This process starts out very intuitively with marks that are allowed to mutate, develop, and eventually evolve into images and objects.” (from the Artist’s Statement).
Richard Cutshall received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. He has also instructed art in the Missouri Public School System. Cutshall has lived in Fayetteville for the last three years and his work has been featured in numerous local, national, and international art exhibits.
MFA Candidate Ben Edwards has created “The Consumer Foundation” — a mixed-media installation that serves as a vehicle to showcase his recent ceramic work for his MFA Thesis exhibition. The show runs March 8 – 21, 2006 with a reception to be held on Saturday, March 11 in the Fine Arts Center Gallery.
As stated in the artist’s introduction, “this exhibition contains ceramic tableware. The majority of each form is derived from two sources: the potter’s wheel and trash.” Examples include vases, carafes and cake stands, as well as more mundane items such as mugs, tumblers and trivets. All of these items incorporate at least one element gleaned from ‘trash’ — i.e. hubcap impressions on the cake stands and mugs with plastic water bottles serving as the mold for their bases. Edwards presents the actual objects that inspired the designs (styrofoam cups, the above mentioned waterbottles and hubcaps, light switch plates, etc) as if they were works of art themselves — on pedestals and under plexiglas covers.
In addition to the exhibition in the Fine Arts Gallery, Edwards’ has chosen to fill the hallway cases outside the gallery with bubble wrap and styrofoam ‘peanuts’ to display his plaster molds and a few other examples of his ceramic work. Items on exhibit in “The Consumer Foundation” are for sale, and their packaging becomes yet another element in the installation.