Tuscaloosa. — Visual artist Iva Gueorguieva will deliver a public lecture Tuesday, March 5, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in Gorgas Library 205 on UA campus. A native of Bulgaria, Iva Gueorguieva lives and works in Los Angeles. Gueorguieva’s current abstract paintings and sculptures, on display in a two-person exhibition at Sophia Contemporary in London, “investigate notions of space, illusion and movement. Drawing on the legacy of Abstract Expressionism, the artist’s paintings are driven by a sense of urgency, a desire to orchestrate chaos and recreate the complexity of life on canvas. Composed of intricate arrangements of painted paper and fabric collaged on the canvas with a feverish energy and dynamism, her paintings seek to investigate the fine line between the intrinsic illusion of the painting’s plane and the physicality of its surface. The artist’s sculptures echo her painting practice in their exploration of the spatial properties of materials. By combining simple elements such as metal scraps, fabric and stone to create intricate sculptural assemblages, the artist draws her inspiration from the Californian landscape where she resides, whilst referencing the legacy of Neo-Dada and Russian Constructivism.” Notable group exhibitions include Variations: Conversations in and around Abstract Painting, curated by Franklin Sirmans, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Making Sense: Rochelle Feinstein, Deborah Grant, Iva Gueorguieva, Dona Nelson, curated by Margaret Miller, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, Fla.; Graphicstudio: Uncommon Practice at USF, curated by Jade Dellinger, Tampa (Fla.) Museum of Art; and Desire: Six Los Angeles Artists, Pasadena (Calif.) Museum of California Art; among others. Her work is included in many public and private collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minn.; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach; Art, Design and Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, Calif. Gueorguieva received the MFA from Tyler School of Art in 2000. Among her awards, she has received the Orange County Contemporary Collectors Fellowship for 2012, the California Community Foundation mid-career fellowship for 2010, and the Pollock-Krasner Grant for 2006. Gueorguieva lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Image credit: Iva Gueorguieva, The Fall of Symmetry, courtesy of the artist. Iva Gueorguieva’s lecture is part of the Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series, sponsored by the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Continuing Studies at The University of Alabama. To see our past and future visiting artists and scholars, go here: https://art.ua.edu/resources/visiting-artists/. Gorgas Library is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. (Map here: http://bit.ly/BusHub2Gorgas ) Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
Catherine Zuromskis to Keynote Art History Symposium at UA
Tuscaloosa. – Dr. Catherine Zuromskis, associate professor of fine art at RIT, will present the keynote address at the 24th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Art History at UA on March 1, 2019. Zuromskis' talk at 4:15 p.m. is titled, “Feeling History: Evidence, Affect, and the Visual Culture of the Kennedy Assassination.” The symposium, a shared production of the departments of art and art history at The University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will take place this year at the Bryant Conference Center on UA’s campus. In her talk, Zuromskis will explore shifting perceptions of the camera’s evidentiary capabilities through an analysis of the notorious Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination. The Zapruder film is an enigmatic piece of evidence, at once allowing us to witness the crime “first hand,” through the eyes of an everyday citizen, yet failing to prove anything we don’t already know or solve the crime we see committed. Examining the film in the various contexts in which it has been presented – Life magazine’s coverage of the assassination, popular films like Oliver Stone’s JFK and Peter Landesman’s Parkland, and the didactic exhibition of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza – Zuromskis argues that the Zapruder film constitutes not so much a failure of technological representation as a move away from ideological narrative photographic or filmic truth to one of affective, first-person experience. Catherine Zuromskis is Associate Professor of Fine Art at Rochester Institute of Technology where she focuses on photography, contemporary art and twentieth-century American visual culture. Prior to coming to RIT, she taught at The University of New Mexico and University of California, Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester in 2006. She also has an M.A. from the University of Rochester, as well as an M.A. in Art History and Criticism from State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to her academic experience, she has worked at Pace Gallery in New York and at the ICA in Boston. Zuromskis is the author of Snapshot Photography: The Lives of Images (MIT Press, 2013), a finalist for the College Art Association 2015 Charles Rufus Morey Book Prize; and the author and editor of The Factory (La Fabrica, 2012), the catalog for the exhibition From the Factory to the World: Photography and the Warhol Community, which she curated for PhotoEspaña 2012. Her writings on photography, film and visual culture have appeared Art Journal, American Quarterly, The Velvet Light Trap, Photography & Culture, Criticism and the edited volumes Photography: Theoretical Snapshots (Routledge: 2009) and Oil Culture (Minnesota: 2014). Her teaching interests center on histories and theories of photography, visual culture, contemporary art and critical theory. She also has taught courses such as Public Art in Twentieth-Century America, Photography and Celebrity Culture, The Snapshot Aesthetic, and Contemporary Art and New Media. This year’s symposium is generously supported by The Graduate School; Dr. Robert Olin, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Dr. Tricia McElroy, Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Blount Scholars Program; New College; Department of Art and Art History; College of Continuing Studies; Harrison Galleries, LLC; Department of Modern Languages & Classics; and the Department of American Studies, of The University of Alabama. About the symposium: The Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Art History, sponsored and shared by the departments of art and art history at The University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, alternates campuses each year. In addition to presentations from graduate students from multiple institutions, the symposium also features poster presentations from undergraduate researchers. The symposium was begun in 1995 by faculty on both campuses to bring their students together to hear and be heard by eminent scholars working in the field of art history. Renowned scholars such as Paul Barolsky in the field of Italian Renaissance art, Allison Kettering in the field of Dutch Baroque art, and young, up-and-coming scholars like Michael Yonan, Krista Thompson, and Graham Boettcher, now director of the Birmingham Museum of Art, have been keynote speakers. The Joint Program for the M.A. in Art History began in 1987 between The University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Joint Program offered the first, and still the only, graduate degree in art history in the state of Alabama. For more information, contact: Dr. Lucy Curzon, lcurzon@ua.edu, (205) 348-6458.
Acclaimed Atlanta Artist To Speak at UA
Artist and educator Larry Walker will offer a presentation on his six decades of artwork and experiences in the art world as part of the Paul R. Jones Lecture Series, Tuesday, February 26, 2019, in the AIME Building on UA campus. Walker's art has been featured in over 200 exhibitions, including a two-part retrospective – Larry Walker: The Early Years and Larry Walker:The Later Years – at Atlanta's Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia in 2018. He also possesses decades of experience as an art educator in the Detroit school system, the University of the Pacific, and Georgia State University. This event is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences.
Artist and Composer Ben Vida to Visit UA
Tuscaloosa. —The Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series and Sonic Frontiers are proud to present renowned visual artist and composer Ben Vida in two appearances. Vida will deliver a public lecture Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in Gorgas Library 205 and give a performance Thursday, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. at the Recital Hall of Moody Music Building. On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Vida will talk about his work in sound and visual art. On Thursday, Feb. 21, he will present a piece for live and fixed electronics that examines the physical dimensionality of sound. Utilizing analog and digital synthesizing systems, Vida's work foregrounds the spacialization, morphology and mutability of sound objects through the use of psycho-acoustic processes. (Scroll down the page for links to videos of Vida's work.) Ben Vida lives and works in New York, where he is a visual artist, composer and musician working in sound, performance, video, installation and 2D work. He has been an active member of the international experimental music community for two decades. In the mid-1990s, Vida co-founded the minimalist quartet Town & Country and released solo records under the moniker Bird Show. He has released records on numerous labels including Alku, PAN, Future Audio Graphics and Kranky, and his most recent LP Damaged Particulates was released on Shelter Press. His work has been featured in Artforum, Modern Painters, The Paris Review, The New York Times, Art Review, The Wire, The Creators Project, and WIRED, among others. In addition to his musical endeavors, Vida has exhibited his work as a visual artist with recent solo exhibitions at Lisa Cooley Gallery in New York and 356 S. Mission Rd. in Los Angeles. His work has also been presented at the Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London; PRESENCES électronique, GRM/INA, Paris; The Kitchen, New York; Performa Biennial, New York; EMPAC, Troy, New York; LEAP Gallery Berlin; Lampo, Chicago; Cricoteka, Kraków, Poland; The Artist’s Institute, New York; Sydney Opera House, Australia; LiveArtsWeek at Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna; the Borderline Festival, Athens, Greece; and the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Meltdown Festival in London. He received his MFA from Bard College in Vermont. Videos of Ben Vida's sonic works: https://vimeo.com/302325475 https://vimeo.com/300010356 https://vimeo.com/88381427 https://vimeo.com/search/sort:latest?q=%22Ben+Vida%22 For more information about these events, contact Pete Schulte (pschulte@ua.edu). Ben Vida’s lecture and concert are a collaboration of the Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series and the Sonic Frontiers Concert Series. They are sponsored by the Department of Art and Art History, New College, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Continuing Studies at The University of Alabama. Sonic Frontiers is a cutting-edge concert series of innovative and experimental music that enriches the cultural life of West Alabama and invites creative exchange between world-class performers of adventurous music, students, and the greater community through public performances and lively post-concert discussions. The 2018-2019 season is the ninth and final season for Sonic Frontiers. All Sonic Frontiers events are free and open to the public. For more information: http://sonicfrontiers.ua.edu. Intrinsic to our mission of outreach to the university community and beyond, the Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series works in conjunction with the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art, the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, the Sella-Granata Art Gallery and other UA departments, organizations and individuals to bring to campus vanguard artists and scholars who represent the entire spectrum of art. To see past and future visiting artists and scholars, go to: https://art.ua.edu/resources/visiting-artists/. Gorgas Library is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. (Map here: http://bit.ly/BusHub2Gorgas ) Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
Master Printer to Give Gallery Talk on Julie Mehretu Exhibition
Tuscaloosa – In conjunction with the Sarah Moody Gallery of Arts’ current exhibition, Highpoint Center for Printmaking’s artistic director and master printer, Cole Rogers, will give a gallery talk on the prints of Julie Mehretu, Wednesday, January 30, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. in 103 Garland Hall. Alabama native Cole Rogers is a co-founder of Highpoint Center for Printmaking. As the center's artistic director and master printer, he has worked with Julie Mehretu since 2004 to develop the print project that became the current exhibition. From 1995–2000 Rogers was print shop director and printmaking coordinator at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where he taught, shaped curriculum and advocated for the art of printmaking. Previously he was chief printer at AKASHA in Minneapolis, Minn., and a senior printer at Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, N.M. Rogers earned his BFA in printmaking from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, his MFA in printmaking from The Ohio State University and a master printer certificate from Tamarind Institute. Collaborative works published by Highpoint Editions under the guidance and direction of Rogers have been featured in national and international venues including the Museum of Modern Art, International Print Center (New York), the University of Peking (Beijing), Shanghai University (China), Boston University, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Walker Art Center, as well as the permanent collections of many major museums, corporations and numerous private collections around the world. The Sarah Moody Gallery’s Farley Moody Galbraith Endowed Exhibition for 2019, Excavations: The Prints of Julie Mehretu, opens January 24 and runs through March 8, 2019. Excavations originated at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, where Cole Rogers collaborated with Mehretu on the project. The public is invited to the opening reception for the exhibition, Thursday, Jan. 24 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in 103 Garland Hall. Image credits: Courtesy Highpoint Center for Printmaking and Julie Mehretu. The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art is supported by The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Art and Art History. For further information, contact the gallery at 348-1891 or go to our website: https://art.ua.edu/gallery/smga/. Garland Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Public buses also transport visitors from the Bus Hub to Gorgas Library, directly across from Garland Hall. Directions via Google Maps are here: https://bit.ly/BusHub2Garland. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
Artist Michi Meko To Lecture on UA Campus
Tuscaloosa – Multidisciplinary artist Michi Meko will deliver a public lecture Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:00 pm in Gorgas Library 205 on UA campus. Atlanta Magazine has called Meko’s work about “the contemporary experience of black life and survival.” A native of Florence, Alabama, the Atlanta-based, multidisciplinary artist draws influence from Southern culture and contemporary urban life. In a recent interview, he said, “I am interested in African Americans and ideas about buoyancy, navigation, and being resilient. This resiliency for me is heroic.” Meko’s recent solo exhibitions include It Doesn’t Prepare You for Arrival at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta; KAZUKO at the Cress Gallery, University of Chattanooga; and One Last Smile Before the Undertow at the Dodd Galleries, University of Georgia, Athens. Recent group exhibitions include This is Where You’ll Find Me at Kress on Dexter, Montgomery, Ala., and Gut Feelings, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw State University, in Georgia. Michi Meko received a BFA in painting from the University of North Alabama. Recent grants and awards include a Joan Mitchell Award, Artadia Award, MOCA GA Fellowship, DashBoard Co-Op Residency Grant, a Flux Projects Grant, a Wonderroot CSA Grant, and a residency at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Meko is represented by Alan Avery Art Company. His website is: http://michimeko.com/. Michi Meko’s lecture is part of the Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series, sponsored by the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Continuing Studies at The University of Alabama. To see our past and future visiting artists and scholars, go here: https://art.ua.edu/resources/visiting-artists/. Gorgas Library is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. (Map here: http://bit.ly/BusHub2Gorgas ) Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
SMGA to Exhibit Work by Ceramic Artist Alice Hohenberg Federico
The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art presents the exhibition Alice Hohenberg Federico: The Liberation of Clay November 29, 2018 – January 11, 2019. The artist will present a lecture about her work Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 6:00 p.m. in 205 Gorgas Library. The public is invited to the opening reception for the exhibition, Thursday, Nov. 29, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. New York artist and Selma, Ala., native Alice Hohenberg Federico works on the potter’s wheel to create sculptural vessels that transcend function. As she puts it, these vessels are “metaphors that are abstractly figurative.” Her work is influenced by ancient Greek pottery, as well as a fascination with Austrian-born British studio potter Lucie Rie’s work. “Pieces are pulled and twisted, wrapped – they are expressive, singular. To me, some are even imperfectly perfect,” said Federico in an interview with art historian and critic Vered Lieb. Lieb has written an essay about Federico's career and work for a catalog to accompany the exhibition. Federico is represented by George Billis Gallery, New York, N.Y. Her work has been featured and reviewed in Women with a Voice, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Sun, The New Republic and Clay Chat. She did her undergraduate work in history and received an MFA in ceramics from East Carolina State University. She returned to school later to study ceramics with renowned master potter Ken Ferguson at Kansas City Art Institute where she earned a BFA degree. In conjunction with the Federico exhibition, selections from the Permanent Collection of the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art at The University of Alabama will be on display. The Permanent Collection is dedicated to works on paper including prints and photography. Paintings, drawings and small sculpture will also be featured. Image credit: Alice Hohenberg Federico, Water from the Desert Well, 1320, white stoneware clay, 14 inches high. The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art is supported by The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Art and Art History. For further information, contact the gallery at (205)348-1891 or go to our website: https://art.ua.edu/gallery/smga/. Garland Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
Curator To Discuss Aboriginal Art Exhibition
Tuscaloosa – Contemporary Australian Aboriginal art is one of the most significant art movements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, according to Anne Keener, curator of the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art's upcoming exhibition, Pattern Thinking: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Tom and Cynthia Schneider. Keener will speak about the exhibition and the art on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at 3:30 p.m., in Lloyd Hall 226. Join us for a reception after the lecture from 5-7 p.m., in Garland Hall 103. The exhibition runs Oct. 11 – Nov. 16. “The indigenous Australian paintings express stories of patterns of interrelation of the forces of all of life, laid down by creator beings,” Keener said. She will talk about the Aboriginal artists in this exhibition and the ideas behind their work. Keener, who received her MFA in painting and drawing, and her BA in comparative studies/religious studies from The Ohio State University, said that she learned the term “pattern thinking” while listening to a talk by the influential Aboriginal elder David Mowaljarlai. Pattern thinking embodies the interconnectedness of all life that the indigenous people of Australia see in the world around them. Mowaljarlai said, “Indigenous elders from all over Australia, from the top end down to the cold country, believe that culture is the lifeblood of the people – the source of inner strength in an individual.” Pattern thinking, an integral part of indigenous Australian culture, according to Mowaljarlai and other Aboriginal leaders, contributes to a balanced life and good mental health and creates and encourages cross cultural dialogue. Image credit left: Johnny Possum Tjapaltjarri, Possum Dreaming, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 24.4 x 23.6 inches. Image credit right: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Snake and Kangaroo Dreaming, 1992, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 51.9 inches The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art is supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Art and Art History. For more information, contact the gallery at (205) 348-1891. Lloyd Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/.
Sheila Pree Bright: A Community Conversation about Social Engagement through Art
Sheila Pree Bright: A Community Conversation about Social Engagement through Art Date: Wednesday, September 05, 2018 Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Location: Warner Presentation Room, Wynn Fine Arts Center, Stillman College Cost: Free and open to the public Join Sheila Pree Bright in a community engagement conversation about art! The questions: Can art be a form of activism to create awareness and bring shared communities together to critically look at ongoing social and political struggles? Is it the artist’s responsibility to create social change through art? How can socially engaged art reshape the approach to under-resourced communities to help overcome barriers to participation and create equitable access? What role can young people play in furthering these conversations? Bright will share the short film Election Day: Lens Across America and examples from her recent photographic series Young Americans, 1960 Who, and #1960Now as a point of entry to this community conversation. Sheila Pree Bright's event is part of the Paul R. Jones Lecture Series, sponsored by UA College of Arts & Sciences.