U of M's 29th Annual Juried Student Exhibition at AMUM through March 10

For release: February 9, 2012
For press information, contact Simone Notter Wilson (901) 678-4164

The University of Memphis' Annual Juried Student Exhibition is a showcase of works in all media by U of M art students. In its 29th year, the 2012 exhibition was judged by Barbara MacAdam, deputy editor of the prestigious ARTnews magazine. MacAdam has been senior editor at ARTnews since 1987 and its deputy editor since 2005. Founded in 1902, the magazine is the oldest and most widely circulated art magazine in the world.

Also at AMUM through March 10 in the ArtLab is Purging of the Past: Part 1, a collaboration by Memphis-based artists and University of Memphis students Kia Lola and Veronica Birmingham. The multimedia installation explores themes of violent behavior, sexual deviance, distortion of love, and abnormal sexuality. The work is influenced by Edward Kienholz’s Roxys. At first glance, nothing seems to be unusual in Kienholz’s landmark 1962 room-sized environment. However, when taking a closer look, viewers will discover seven distorted doll-like figures that inhabit the space; assembled from mannequins and flea-market junk they present lives of abuse and quiet despair. Lola and Birmingham’s space will be fashioned after a small mobile home. It too will tell stories of abuse and first reveal its true nature when viewers take a closer look.

On display in Caseworks is Through a Glass Darkly: Johan Gustavsson. Gustavsson is a visual artist originally from Sweden but now based in The Netherlands. In his work he focuses on how art functions and how it can use its possibilities as an alternative way of communicating. He is a curator of 1646’, an artists’ initiative/project-space in the The Hague, The Netherlands, which promotes the exchange between local, national and international artists and art spaces. It works as platform for discussion, research, production and presentation of autonomous visual art. Gustavsson also is a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. During 2008 he was the Cultural Ambassador of The Hague.