Come out on Friday night to celebrate not just the addition of two new artists to UICA’s Coming Home exhibition, but to welcome the opening of Sticks & Squares and to see the 2015 Fresh Pick winning artist Lydia Boda show.
Coming Home focuses on the emerging and established Michigan artists by providing space for inspiration, exploration, and creativity to flow from this exhibition that highlights a diverse group of working artists.
Working within the themes of departures and reunions, Coming Home welcomes two new exhibitions to this series: The Third Age of Bashan by Eric German and U080715-315 by Aj Cooke.
Garman, who lived in Grand Rapids, Mich. from 2009 through 2012 while he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in the drawing department at Kendall College of Art and Design, dives into the theme through his revelation of a fictional history from an imagined tiny universe he has created through drawings to modeling including snapshots of this journey. Garman writes, “Visually we can break up grids and deconstruct their forms. The organic way in which our eyes create movement within the woven elements is shown through the repositioning of these pieces. Hand drawn lines create visual weight as well as guide us through a piece.”
Cooke’s works may be a bit more challenging for some but, given some time, they begin to develop a deeper meaning once your perspective settles in to the fact that these photographic images are created from the white gallery walls on the ramp space at the UICA. Cooke writes, “(These) communal interpretations of a specific shape and hue become difficult as each viewer dons an individual meaning derived from their own perception of the world. The abstraction therefore, becomes personal, and new significance is projected on each piece of the composition.”
UICA also welcomes their first UICA Fresh Pick award winner Lydia Boda on Jan. 29. Boda is a 2015 BFA graduate from the KCAD Functional Sculpture and will present her latest works based on memory and ritual via her digital and sculptural installations. She will also be debuting a brand new performance piece at UICA on this evening.
If you cannot make the reception, these new additions to the Coming Home exhibition closes on March 20, 2016. Please note that Coming Home also includes an exhibition by Lisa Walcott. It opened in Nov. 2015 and will be closing Feb. 8, 2016.
Also opening this night is Sticks & Squares (Jan. 29 - Mar. 13), curated by Kate Garman and featuring the work of eight artists: Christine Mauersberger, Carrie Dickason, Ann Chuchvara, Mara Baker, Megan Gurisko, Mandy Cano Villalobos, Monica Lloyd, and Rachel Marcincavage.
Please note that this event has a 6 p.m. member preview reception prior the public opening at 7 p.m. (Membership does have benefits!)
Admission: UICA Members: Free, Non-Members: $5
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