| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
March Issue 2006
Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, Offers a New Round of Exhibitions
Appalachian State University's Turchin Center for the Visual Arts opens four new exhibitions including: Arnold Mesches: It's a Circus, a poignant and powerful critique of current society curated by Appalachian Department of Art professor Jody Servon, on view in the Main Gallery, from Mar. 3 through June 3, 2006; Works from Appalachian State University's Permanent Collection, on view in the Mezzanine Gallery, from Mar. 3 through June 3, 2006; Women Artists of Western North Carolina, on view in the Catwalk Community Gallery, from Mar. 3 through Apr. 1, 2006; and Third Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, in the Mayer Gallery, from Mar. 25 through Apr. 29, 2006.
Arnold Mesches: It's a Circus is a poignant and powerful critique of current society curated by Appalachian Department of Art professor Jody Servon. Mesches' works feature figures and creatures that defy gravity as they float, flip and fly through dream-like environments. Large paintings and framed color studies combine elements from carnivals and circuses with imagery from mass media to interpret current social and political issues.
Mesches' 113 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums have gained him national recognition and prominence. His work is housed in numerous private and public collections and is actively exhibited throughout the US. Notably, his acclaimed exhibit, The FBI Files, is currently being toured by New York's esteemed Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Mesches' extensive career has spanned more than 60 years and includes teaching, exhibiting and lecturing. He is currently on faculty with the Graduate Seminar in Painting and Drawing at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Jody Servon, Assistant Professor with Appalachian's Department of Art and Director of the department's Catherine J. Smith Gallery, serves as guest curator for It's a Circus. She received a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Arizona in Tucson and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Prior to coming to Appalachian, Servon was the Curatorial Coordinator at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art and held positions at Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, National Gallery of Art, South Brunswick Board of Education and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. In addition to her curatorial and educational work, Servon is also a practicing artist, whose work has been included in exhibitions and screenings throughout the US and Canada.
A Lunch & Learn lecture discussing the Mesches exhibition will be held in the Turchin Center Lecture Hall on Mar. 22, from noon-1pm.
In the East Wing's Mezzanine Gallery, the Turchin Center will feature Works from Appalachian State University's Permanent Collection. Of special note are two important works by noted American artist Clarence Holbrook Carter that were recently gifted to Appalachian's growing permanent collection. The Turchin Center maintains the university's collection of diverse original works of art and makes pieces available to campus facilities. In support of the university's teaching mission, the center collects and provides works for special exhibitions such as this one, loans pieces to other organizations within the region and ensures that students, staff and faculty experience significant, original artwork as a part of their daily routine.
In a tribute to Women's
History Month, the East Wing's Catwalk Community Gallery will
present a juried exhibition of Women Artists of Western North
Carolina. Organized by Appalachian's Women's Studies Program
in partnership with the Turchin Center, this exhibition is a celebration
of women artists living in Western North Carolina, organized to
educate the public about the significance of women's art in our
region. Jurors for this exhibition include Appalachian professors
Dr. Marilyn C. Smith, Dr. Heather Waldroup and Lynn Duryea.
The Third Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition
(AMPC), a program of Appalachian's Department of Outdoor Programs
in conjunction with the Banff Mountain Film Festival (held at
Farthing Auditorium on Mar. 25 and 26), is an opportunity to showcase
the unique character of the Southern Appalachian region through
photography. Prizes will be awarded in each subject category:
Culture, Environment, Adventure, Landscape, Flora/Fauna and Blue
Ridge Parkway. Winning and Special Mention photographs will be
displayed in the Turchin Center's Mayer Gallery.
For more information
check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Center at
828/262-3017 or at (www.tcva.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.