FALL 2022 | UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
Events
College of Arts and Sciences Special
Exhibitions Some Bodies: Oceanic Imaginations in Contemporary Art On View: September 6 to October 21 Humanities Center Gallery, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall Artists and their publics have been fascinated with depictions of large bodies of water for centuries. Contemporary artists have shown their own distinct interest in these ocean environments, from purely formal explorations, to romantic suggestions, to impatiently expressed concerns for the natural environment. This small survey of watery imagery draws upon the growing collections of prints and photographs stewarded by University Galleries and features memorable examples of recent practices by Sandra Cinto, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Christiane Baumgartner, Emma Stibbon and Bas Jan Ader. Their immersive representations will be presented during the first half of the fall semester in conjunction with the Humanities Center’s thematic investigation of oceans and the human landscape. (Right) Sandra Cinto, Open Sea (closeup), 2016, cyanotype. University Print Collection, Purchased through the John A. Petersen Print Acquisition Fund. PC2016.22.01
A Witness in the Grass: Thirty Years of Prints by Bill Kelly On View: September 30 to December 9 Hoehn Family Galleries, Founders Hall
Screenings 9: LaToya Ruby Frazier On View: October 31 to December 16 Humanities Center Gallery, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall Screenings 9 celebrates the practice of Chicago-based multimedia artist, LaToya Ruby Frazier (b. 1940). Frazier’s still photography and video projects bring scrutiny and empathy to a cluster of urgent issues centered on race, social justice and family. Her commitment to representing the public health crisis that exists in Flint, Michigan, has so far taken the form of exhibitions, a book and video. Flint Is Family (2016) is one product of the artist’s five-month residency in the central Michigan city, documenting residents’ experiences as they battled bravely for the right to safe drinking water in their homes. Flint Is Family combines Frazier’s compelling black-and-white imagery, spoken poetry and lush cinematic sensibility, to achieve what Frazier refers to as “a platform to advocate for others, the oppressed, the disenfranchised . . . [seeking to] create visibility through images and [to use] storytelling to expose the violation of their rights.” This ninth iteration of Screenings, thus, underscores the politics of water in contemporary America. (Above) LaToya Ruby Frazier, Awaiting the Arrival of President Barack Obama, May 4, 2016, Flint, Michigan, 2016-2017. Gelatin silver print. © LaToya Ruby Frazier. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery.
This exhibition celebrates the practice of artist and USD faculty member Bill Kelly. As a printmaker, teacher and collaborative bookmaker, Kelly continues to impress upon the world through his intuitive image-making and cultivation of emerging artists. Over the course of his career, Kelly has ardently engaged the medium of printmaking to unearth his images, which largely draw upon his experience as a witness to the subtleties of nature, keenly aware that he, too, is subject to being witnessed. Incorporating further elements of poetry, grief and art history, Kelly’s work evokes a meditative resonance that beckons both personal reverie
MESSAGE FROM THE DE AN I am happy to share some of the events that the USD College of Arts and Sciences has in store for this fall. Arts and culture continue to be a vibrant part of our campus. This
and insightful consideration. (Above) Bill Kelly, A Swarm of Witnesses, 2013, multiblock color woodcut, 21 ¾ x 17 5/16 in., on loan from artist’s studio.
October, we will host our second annual USD Arts and Culture Festival in the new Arts District on campus. Prints and Pinot, one of the college’s signature events, will also return this fall. I hope you will join us for the many art exhibitions, music performances, lectures and more as we continue to expand our in-person events. To get complete event details and for additional events, please go to sandiego.edu/events/cas. Noelle Norton, PhD, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
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