Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship Awards 2011

Page 1

CURATOR’S STATEMENT

I hope that these four selected artists

sense of displacement, re-presenting the

present an accurate cross-section of the

familiar landscapes of rural Oklahoma as

wide variety of talent and media

new and strange. Paul Bagley’s complex

submitted to the Fellowship program. The

sculptures and attendant performance,

work of all four intersperse their own real

rooted in the landscapes and rural culture

and authentic personal histories into a

of Oklahoma, also seek to universalize and

wider examination of that individual’s

re-present those places as full of rich

place in society, while at the same time

layers of metaphor and experience; both

anchoring their work in an understanding

artists drawing deep strength from their

of their locality. Lindsay Larremore and

locality while ensuring that the viewer can

Mark Zimmerman concentrate on the

fully understand the intent of the artist as

personal, both using their impressive

present within the work.

command of traditional media to actuate their examination of the relevance of the

Ben Heywood - Executive Director

personal to universal. While Zimmerman

The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN

takes from his own painful personal family history, Larremore uses the intensely private medium of paint to mimic the un-examined minutiae of her everyday life.

Cover Images:

Positioned as the ‘other’ in a universalized

Paul Bagley, Symbiosis, 2010, Wood, steel, incandescent

landscape of Oklahoma, Eyakem Gulilat

lights, fasteners, fabric, 9’ x 11’ x 18’

OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS FELLOWSHIP

uses photography to expose both his adopted home and his immigrant status,

Eyakem Gulilat, Norman, Grandfather’s Morning Prayer,

allowing the viewer to experience his

Archival inkjet print, 16” x 20”

& STUDENT AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

• 2011 •

OVAC-OK.ORG • 405.879.2400


THE OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION HELPS ARTISTS THRIVE IN OKLAHOMA. OVAC SERVES OVER 4,500 ARTISTS ANNUALLY THROUGH THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, FUNDING, EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS. THE OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS FELLOWSHIPS AND STUDENT AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE RECOGNIZE OKLAHOMA ARTISTS WITH OUTSTANDING VISION, REWARDING THEM FOR THEIR PAST ACHIEVEMENT AND FUTURE PROMISE. A GUEST CURATOR SELECTS THE AWARDS THROUGH AN OPEN CALL PROCESS. VIEW VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH THE FELLOWSHIP AWARD WINNERS AT YOUTUBE.COM/OKVISUALARTS

PAUL BAGLEY • OKLAHOMA CITY

EYAKEM GULILAT • NORMAN

Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship

Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship

Through his three-dimensional, multimedia work,

Gulilat’s photographs address how identity forms in

Bagley encourages communal, creative or functional

the junctures of cross-cultural encounter. He focuses

interactivity. He often generates artwork in response

on communities that are underrepresented and his

to the location where he works. The origin of

own memories of new cultures and physical

materials provides the conceptual framework for

landscapes.

every piece, such as wood recycled from demolished buildings or adaptive reuse of outdated technology.

“I treat my camera as a tool that captures one moment of a larger dialogue that occurs between me

“In studying sustainable design over the years, I’ve

and my subjects,” said Gulilat. “Photographing the

developed sensitivity to the layers of applied design

space in-between, along with both my perspective

integrated into our modern culture and how art

and my subject’s perspective, results in a collapse

appreciation functions within this realm,” said Bagley.

between boundaries.”

He said this examination of our rapidly changing world “drives my creativity, addressing embodied

Gulilat received an MFA in Media Art/Photography

energy, processing methods, material up-cycling, and

from the University of Oklahoma and a BAS in

those relationships relative to their history and

Photojournalism and Art from Abilene Christian

environmental impact.”

University.

Bagley received a BFA in Visual Communications from

E YA K E M . C O M

LINDSAY LARREMORE • TULSA Student Award of Excellence Larremore recently received her BFA in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University. Through her painting series, she explores issues of privacy in public and personal settings. The perspective of her oil paintings brings the viewer into the role of voyeur, capturing moments in the life of a young woman. L I N D S AY L A R R E M O R E . C O M

MARK ZIMMERMAN • EDMOND Student Award of Excellence Zimmerman recently received his MFA with an emphasis in Photography from the University of Oklahoma. His current body of work, invites viewers to contemplate their existence and the continuation of time. Using precarious photographic processes, he explores impermanence as a reminder that people, places and things decline, decay and die.

the University of Oklahoma.

MARK WZIMMERMAN .COM P A U L B A G L E Y. C O M

Paul Bagley, Symbiosis, 2010, Wood, steel,

Eyakem Gulilat, Memories of my Father, 2010, Archival inkjet print, 16” x 20”

Lindsay Larremore, 4:22 PM, 2010, Oil on panel,

Mark Zimmerman, A Fragile Existence Plate 6, 2011,

incandescent lights, fasteners, fabric, 9’ x 11’ x 18’

Sophie and Eyakem Gulilat, Archival Ink Jet Print, 24” x 50”

6.5” in diameter

Collodion photography on mirror, 6.5” x 8.5”


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