This year’s series of eight solo exhibitions by senior studio art majors opens today, March 24, in the Gallery at the Art & Music Library at the University of Rochester. “Expect to encounter dynamic work in the form of room-size installations, lively paintings, and projected computer animation sequences,” says Emile Devereaux, assistant professor of digital media in the Department of Art and Art History at the University.
While most of the shows will be on display at the Art & Music Library, the Sage Art Center also will provide space for an installation experience when the work of Jeffrey Lehn opens April 21. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
The first show on display from March 24 to 29, “Tenuous Balance” by Paul “Zippy” Szymanski, combines black-and-white photography with installation pieces. Szymanski’s work references the movement of skateboards and the freezing of time with the photographic shutter. “I ask the viewer to enter into a pause, a moment that was taken for them, presented in the way that I saw it,” says Szymanski about his work. An opening reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. March 24.
Look for Anne Baker’s nontraditional “Self-Portrait” starting March 30. Her experiments in self-portraiture break out of conventional forms, expressing at times a highly personal glimpse into an interior vision. She wants her art pieces to “provoke people into seeing the world the way I do,” she admits. “I want people to squirm a little when they see my work; I want them to be uncomfortable when viewing my work so that they leave the gallery thinking about what it is that I have told them.” Her opening is set for 7 to 9 p.m. March 31, and the exhibit closes April 5.
Jackie Lanoix’s installation work opens on April 6 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. April 7. The installation consists of fabric structures that viewers “step into,” away from the gallery space and into their own solitary space of memory and personal associations. “Using physical objects and sound, my environmental manipulations absorb the viewer into a realm, bringing forth emotions in an attempt to recreate what has been lost,” she explains. Her show continues through April 12.
Tracy Feldman’s work is titled, “The Smiths went out to buy new wallpaper and never came back.” Her vibrantly colored painting, fabric, and installation elements “mesh the patterns between nuclear families and nuclear war,” she says. Her show runs from April 13 to 19 with an opening scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. April 14.
A. Grant Lightner’s show opens April 20 with refreshments from 5 to 7 p.m., and is on display until April 26. “Entering into the Digital Surreal” is made up of digitally manipulated slides and scans incorporated into the environment.
The only show located in the AS/IS Gallery at Sage Art Center, Jeff Lehn’s installation “Spray: Writing on the Wall” will begin on April 21. “There won’t be any overpriced artifacts placed on display, edited somehow to make a fourth-grader look like Raphael,” he points out, “only rough imagery, text, and installation.” An opening reception is planned from 4 to 6 p.m. April 22. His exhibit continues through May 2.
Becca Wolfson turns mundane moments into humorous visuals using various painting techniques in “Finding Humor.” This artist wants viewers ready to have some “fun” because word play is a contributing element in Wolfson’s works. On display from April 27 through May 3, her opening party is set for 4 to 6 p.m. April 28.
The final show, Jamil Thompson’s “The Architect’s Gym,” will open May 4 with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. A short movie using three-dimensional animation and a computer-generated rendering of the Cathedral of the Saint Divine, Thompson uses 3D animation to create “icons of a new and old age.” His exhibit closes May 10.
Hours for the Gallery at the Art & Music Library in Rush Rhees Library on the River Campus are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Jeffrey Lehn’s show at Sage Art Center is open from 9:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. to midnight Sunday.
The exhibits are free and continue through May 10. For more information, contact (585) 275-4476.