Welcome to the University Galleries
On View exhibition :
Political Circus 2024
Schmidt Center Gallery & Public Space
Curated by Jane Caputi & Rockford Projects
On View: October 5 – November 24, 2024
Opening Reception: October 15, 2024, 4:30 - 8:30 pm
- Interdisciplinary Panel Discussions: October 15, 2024, 2:00 - 3:00 pm, and October 22, 2024, 11:00 am
- Artist Talk with Valery Estabrook: The Curse of Being Resilient: October 18, 2024, 10:00 am
- Comic Workshop featuring artist Christopher Speradino: October 25, 2024, 5:30 - 8:00 pm
Join the Political Circus! Expect pageantry, cheap shots, branding, bombast, combative opinion, conflicting patriotic pride, and flags of every stripe. Based on Dr. Jane Caputi's multi-year collection of presidential election merchandise, this exhibition examines the interplay of political media, consumerism, and patriotism. Presidential pop paraphernalia acts as a cultural fun house mirror, reflecting and reshaping America. Curator Lisa Rockford juxtaposes Caputi's mass-produced election materials documenting trends in American elections with artistic "craftivism" and flag iconography for insight at media in election times.
Featuring artworks from: Aaron Fein, Adam Farcus, Adrienne Sloane, Amy Gelb, Angela Nguyen, Arlene Rush, Aurora Molina, Batia Lowenberg, Celine Browning, Christopher Sperandio, Donna Ruff, Elle Schorr, George Lorio, Hirbod Human, Iván Sikic, Jay Hatfield, Kate Kretz, Katrina Majkut, Laura Ficorilli, Leslie Robison, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Mabelin Castellanos, Margaret Roleke-Rooney, Martin Casuso, Melissa Vandenberg, Misael Soto, Natalie Baxter, Patty Carroll, Petra Liebl-Osborne, Richard Notkin, Rita Valley, RW BaBs, Samantha Salzinger, Sandra Ramos, Scott Froschauer, Susanna Johns, Valery Estabrook, and Winifred Van der Rijn.
Little Habits
Ritter Art Gallery
On View: November 14 - November 27, 2024
Opening Reception: November 14, 2024, 4:30 - 8:30 pm
Featuring: Caitlin Rosolen
Little Habits is a body of work that explores my body's physical defense and chemical adaptation, navigating long-term chronic stress and traumas through sculpture installation. Emphasizing physical tactility, the use of soft, pliable natural fibers and glass beads is purposeful in their weaving, entanglement, and embedding within and through the reclaimed wood stretchers. These materials penetrate the hard, charred structures, while certain sections are physically suspended. The series as a whole represents a metaphorical self-portrait housing the physical and mental intimate carnal transgressions that probe the discussion of trauma and associated coping mechanisms. Focusing on an over-arching survey of maladaptive coping mechanisms, the underlying subject matter of this body of work serves as a self-reflection and visual translation of the everchanging, yet ultimately unresolved, internal dialogue. The work serves as both a self-reflection and a visual translation of this ongoing struggle between the physical and the emotional.
The Observer & Observed!
Ritter Art Gallery
On View: November 14 - November 27, 2024
Opening Reception: November 14, 2024, 4:30 - 8:30 pm
Featuring: Azarakhsh Shafieikadkani
My MFA thesis Project explores the concept of the gaze and its role in shaping identity, drawing on feminist and psychoanalytic theories. With analysis of the power dynamics between the viewer & the viewed, my work challenges traditional representations of marginalized bodies. Through experimental photography, I distort and deconstruct the human form to resist objectification, encouraging viewers to question the societal and political implications of how we look and are looked at
Identity in the Digital Age
Ritter Art Gallery
On View: November 14 - November 27, 2024
Opening Reception: November 14, 2024, 4:30 - 8:30 pm
Featuring: Nargiza Dadabaeva
My artwork explores identity and connection in a digitally driven world where curated online personas often overshadow authenticity. Growing up between Uzbekistan and the United States, I use collage and mixed media to reflect the fragmentation of self shaped by contrasting cultures and the duality of online performance. Reflective elements in my art invite viewers to confront their own digital selves, questioning the emotional cost of maintaining multiple personas. Ultimately, my work challenges viewers to seek genuine, meaningful connections amidst digital fragmentation.
Oasis
Ritter Art Gallery
On View: November 14 - November 27, 2024
Opening Reception: November 14, 2024, 4:30 - 8:30 pm
Featuring: Parinaz Moghadampour
"This fiction project by Parinaz Moghadampour, aka PARMO, critiques consumerism by depicting a human in the mass production cycle alongside a product, progressing through factory stages in a pose reflecting pop culture’s focus on intellect and morality. They reach a “media altar,” symbolizing advertising’s manipulation and control of identity. A contrasting waterfall represents nature and resilience, surrounded by waste to highlight the environmental cost of consumerism. The interactive waterfall fosters a tangible human-nature connection, enhancing viewers’ awareness of consumerism’s ecological effects."
Upcoming Exhibition
South Florida Cultural Consortium: Mangroves to Masterpieces
Schmidt center gallery & Public space
On View: January 16 - March 12, 2025
Opening Reception: January 16, 2025 from 4:30 - 9 pm
Featuring Artists: Alián Rives, Angelica Clyman, Ania Mossawei, Denise Triezman, Greko Sklavonnos, Jean Mallozzi, Jillian Mayer, Kailin Spain, Kandy Lopez, Laura Tanner, Roscoe Thick III, Rose Cromwell, William Cordova
Images (top to bottom): Picture 1: Animate Fields, Amy Schissel, acrylic, graphite, pen, charcoal, ink on paper, 2022-2023, 16' x 9'. Picture 2: Stacked #1 (Miami, FL), Laura Tanner, ink and gouache on hand-cut mylar, 2023, 24" x 30". Picture 3: Lucid Palms, Katlin Spain, oil on canvas, 2023, 20" x 24".
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