Exhibition to feature work of 23 UC Santa Cruz art faculty

Melissa Gwyn: Fabergenic (Queen Vic)  2016, 36 x 42" oil on panel

Melissa Gwyn
Fabergenic (Queen Vic) 2016, 36 x 42" oil on panel

Jimin Lee, Once Upon a Time in California ,Laser-cut wood block and Inkjet printing
Jimin Lee
Once Upon a Time in California
Laser-cut wood block and Inkjet printing
60 x 42 in. / 152.4 x 106.6 cm
2014
Norman Locks

Norman Locks, Sweeney Granite Mountain Research Center

The work of 23 current Art Department faculty at UC Santa Cruz will be featured at In Conversation with UCSC Studio Art Faculty--an upcoming exhibition that will take place at both the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery on campus, and the R. Blitzer gallery on the west side of Santa Cruz.

"This is the first large-scale faculty show in over 10 years,” noted Sesnon Gallery director Shelby Graham. “We are asking faculty members to show recent work that will spark a conversation. And we’re excited to open the conversation to all campus and community members.”

The artwork will range from computer technologies, such as video mapping, transmedia storytelling, and photo-digital intaglio printmaking with laser-cutting processes, to classical painting, drawing, and sculpture.

“I wanted to show the range of mediums and concepts being taught here at UC Santa Cruz,” said Graham. “We thought about doing a smaller theme-based faculty show, but we decided to show the depth and breadth of the faculty members. There are themes of environmentalism, queerness, participatory culture, and social justice in the exhibition,” she added.

Graham noted that highlights of the show include work by award-winning faculty members such as Dee Hibbert-Jones, who recently received an Oscar nomination for her animated short documentary film, Last Day of Freedom; Elizabeth Stephens, winner of a 2014 Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship Award; and new professors, A. Laurie Palmer from the Art Institute of Chicago, and Enrique Leal from the University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain.

In Conversation with UCSC Studio Art Faculty opens at the Porter Sesnon Art Gallery on Thursday, April 7, followed by a second opening at the R. Blitzer Gallery on Friday, April 8. It will run at both venues through May 7.

Graham encouraged the community to attend the opening night receptions, which will take place at each of the galleries.

“The receptions will be a chance to meet the artists and talk about their work,” said Graham. “We’ll also have a few conversation games to kick off the evenings. We want to encourage people to talk to each other.”

For more information, and a schedule of related artist talks, visit the Sesnon Gallery web site or call (831) 459-3606.


Artists Included in the Exhibition

Elliot Anderson
Brandin Barón
Tra Bouscaren
Noah Buchanan
E.G. Crichton
Frank Galuszka
Melissa Gwyn
Jeff Hemming
Dee Hibbert-Jones
Enrique Leal
Jimin Lee
Norman Locks
Peter Loftus
Kyle Lane-McKinley
Wes Modes
Sean Monaghan
A. Laurie Palmer
Jennifer Parker
Kathleen C. Perry
Ian Pines
Susana Ruiz
Elizabeth Stephens
Lewis Watts