PRATTMWP PART-TIME FACULTY SHOW AT THE SCHOOL OF ART GALLERY Featuring works by Todd Behrendt, Sarah Burns, Sylvia de Swaan, Zach Lewis, Gina Murtagh, Jenna North, Kim Carr Valdez, Mara Zoltners December 11th, 2014 thru January 23rd, 2015 The School of Art Gallery at PrattMWP, a division of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, in Utica, NY, will present our Part-Time Faculty Show. The show will highlight the strength of the diverse faculty of the PrattMWP College of Art and Design (who come from and have studied in various locations nationally and internationally) by featuring work in different mediums including photography, sculpture, painting and video. Dr. Mara Zoltners completed a PhD from the University of Leeds in England with research that involved the practice of stereoscopy as seen in the history of fine art, video art history, and digital photography. Her 3-D videos play with the viewers’ ways of seeing, allowing them to observe, ”occurrences characterized as marginal, or as being in a state of inattention … waiting for the fullness of the observed event to unfold over time.” Zoltners has taught at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, MN, University of Northern Illinois in Dekalb, IL, and is currently teaching 4D and Video at PrattMWP. Kim Carr Valdez received her MFA in sculpture from Syracuse University and has been a resident artist at Sculpture Space and at the chashama Residency Program in New York, NY. Her Canal Street series is created from the debris off the sidewalks of Canal Street in Chinatown, New York, including handbag hardware of fakes such as Coach, Louis Vuitton and Chanel from the counterfeit designer market. Valdez tediously collects, dates, organizes and at time engraves the work. “I experiment with the structure of how findings will be wired together. I seek to maintain a balance between my own creative impulses while revealing the essence of the object…. The artworks refer to jewelry, accessories, purses, and scarves and are made in that language, but lack any such function. Yet the artwork is indeed a product about products - discussing copyright laws, branding, and illegal trade. It is a reflection upon the human desire to possess and the sacred almost religious aspects of consumerism.” Sylvia de Swaan & Gina Murtagh have both served as Executive Directors of the Sculpture Space residency program in Utica, NY. Sylvia de Swaan is a Romanian born artist/photographer who has lived and worked in Mexico, Europe and the United States. She has produced several significant bodies of photographic work, including “Return,” “Eternity,” and “Sub-version,” that in her words, “explore the nature of identity in relation to place, memory, conviction and experience.” Murtagh received her MFA in Photography and Media from Syracuse University and recently organized the Uptown Downtown Art Fair in Utica NY. Murtagh is an experienced arts educator, director and curator. In addition to teaching the History of Photography at PrattMWP she has been an Adjunct Professor at Cazenovia College and Utica College. Murtagh also served as the Assistant Director of Light Work and currently serves on the Exhibition Committee of the Kirkland Art Center. Jenna North moved from San Francisco back to Central New York a few years ago. North teaches, curates and has an active role in downtown revitalization with Project-U (an artist collective organization that she is the co-founder and volunteer director of), integrating the arts into downtown Utica. As a visionary leader, she often collaborates with meteorologists, ecologists, architects and artists for curatorial projects and her own work. She received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Recent awards include a residency at the National Art Gallery in Male’, Maldives, where she is designing an ambitious rooftop mural/garden/city park to create the illusion of the ocean rising and washing over a building. Other awards include a residency at the Headlands, Root Division and a Murphy and Cadogan fellowship. She is currently exhibiting paintings in the US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In addition to creating and exhibiting her own work, North continues to curate exhibitions of both professional and student artists. The show will also feature traditional, non-traditional and digital approaches to photography. Prints will be on display from Central New York photographer Zach Lewis. Also, Todd Behrendt will be exhibiting silver gelatin prints created in a traditional wet process darkroom utilizing non-traditional techniques. In the past, Behrendt has also incorporated elements of collage and expressionism in his work. And last but not least, Communication Design Adjunct Professor, Sarah Burns will be exhibiting a selection of designs that she has created for her various clients. CONTACTS FOR THE PRATTMWP SCHOOL OF ART GALLERY: Sandra Stephens, Gallery Director, [email protected] School of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute 1200 State Street, Utica, NY 13502 Phone 315-797-0000 ext. 2274 Hours: Mon – Fri. 8:30am – 4:30pm, Mon – Thur. 6 pm – 9 pm**, Sat. 8:30am – 12pm ** evening hours are during the academic year. (Public: Free of Charge) MEDIA CONTACTS: For further information, images, or to arrange interviews, please contact: Joe Schmidt, [email protected] School of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute 1200 State Street, Utica, NY 13502 315-797-0000 ext. 2147 Attached Images: Mara Zoltners, Bilateral Division, 2 channel Digital anaglyph 3D video, color, silent, variable dimensions, 2014 Coco Chanel Button Earring, 10 x 3.5 x 2, Found Objects from Canal Street & Wire, 2014 Todd Behrendt, Descent Study #2, 16”w x 20”h, silver gelatin print Canal Street & Wire, 2014
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:47:52 +0000