Kyle McKenzie presents his MFA Thesis Exhibition, Empty Walls,in the Fine Arts Center Gallery from April 20 – 30, 2009. This exhibition features a series of paintings that depict interiors from the artist’s childhood home, which was recently purchased compulsorily to allow for the extension of a street. After his parents vacated the house, McKenzie revisited the empty space, which he describes as a “shell of (my) former home,” and his paintings document his observations of the empty space.
“I have always been struck by the peculiar way in which light and shadow sculpt the visual world, and I was drawn to the newly abandoned house as a sort of laboratory to observe these situations… the naked simple architecture held a quiet enigma. Increasingly, closely held associations and personal memories flavored my perceptions. The resulting paintings are universal in their depiction of simple domestic spaces, but hold deeply personal reflections on the specific home.”
A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, April 25 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm in the Gallery. For more information: kyle.mckenzie@yahoo.com.
“Physical Reminders” showcases the work of seven internationally and nationally distinguished artists who approach sculpture as physical indicators of time, space, identity, and invisible systems. The object is a point of departure for these artists. In several of the exhibited pieces, the artists see themselves and the viewer as the object in their work, as subject and spectator equally affected by their environment or factors beyond control. Elements of painting, photography, design, and architecture collide with kinetics, sound, light, and real-time information in the same space. Compared to the way sculpture traditionally has been experienced through the sense of sight, these works presented together reflect an information overload in that they require our full attention on additional sensory levels….
Each work in this exhibition challenges the viewer to process and index their work accordingly. Remembering requires recognition and exertion to recall what has been experienced. These works can be seen as strings tied to fingers, sticky notes, to-do lists, and electronic notifications – all visual cues meant to enhance prospective memory. They are also suggestions, ranging from physical to virtual, of an anticipated act which may or may never materialize. (from the Statement by the Exhibition Curator, Bethany Springer, Assistant Professor of Art, University of Arkansas).
The seven artists whose work is featured in “Physical Reminders” are David Gurman (San Francisco, CA), Michael Jones McKean (Richmond, VA), Greg Pond (Nashville, TN), Micki Watanabe Spiller (New York, NY), Claire Watkins (New York, NY), Mike Wsol (Charlottesville, VA), and Lain York (Nashville, TN). Christopher Cook, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City, was the moderator for a panel discussion with Jones McKean, Pond, Watkins, Wsol, York and Springer on Wednesday, March 25, which followed presentations by each of these artists about their work.