Utah Museum of Contemporary Art Newsletter
JANUARY 2013
   
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E V E N T S 

OPENING RECEPTIONS 

Venessa Gromek; JAN 4, 2013: 7-9 PM  
Analogital; JAN 18, 2013: 7-10 PM 

white-bar-spacerPlease join us for two receptions in January to celebrate the opening of Venessa Gromek's The Sublime is Light and Easy-to-Assemble in the Locals Only Gallery and the group exhibition Analogital in the Main Gallery.   

 

ART TALK WITH VENESSA GROMEK 

JAN 25, 2013: 7 PM    

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Join us for a Q & A with the artist and senior curator 
Aaron Moulton. 

 
Moulton says of Gromek's artwork: "Confusing heavy-metal formalism and the ability to pick up and go, these deceptive forms detach a viewer from any sense of easy assembly or protection leaving a poignant address of our own fragility in the landscape".  More 

ART TALK WITH JENNIFER WEST 

JAN 18, 2013: 7 PM    

white-bar-spacer Join us for a Q & A with the artist  and senior curator 
Aaron Moulton. 

 

Jennifer West is a Los Angeles-based artist who creates visceral films by subjecting 16 mm, 35 mm, and 70 mm film negatives to products such as mascara, deodorant, hot sauce, energy drinks and skateboard wheels.  

 

Through this process of manipulation and experimentation, West produces films and images that physically immerse the filmmaker's celluloid within the social, cultural and chemical conditions that it otherwise documents.

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E X H I B I T I O N  O P E N I N G S 
THE SUBLIME IS LIGHT AND EASY-TO-ASSEMBLE

JAN 4-APR 20, 2013

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Stemming from her passion for the outdoor industry and her interest in how that industry intersects with notions of the sublime, artist Venessa Gromek creates tent-like sculptures that engage with concepts of abstract artwork, euphoric experience, and impossible functionality.

 

More than ever, outdoor recreation is about the experience of escaping into the wilderness in as easy and accessible ways as possible. Gromek complicates this process by creating structures that are not useful outdoor shelters, but rather function as contemplative forms related to the tradition of modernism. By using colorful lace, metal poles, and simple hardware, she recontextualizes how design for the outdoors can be reassembled to reflect on the malleability of contemporary sculpture.

 

Working between the constraints of functional outdoor equipment and attractive modernist aesthetics, Gromek's "Tents" series provides an innovative approach to understanding how inspiration can be captured not only in the awe and beauty of nature, but also in the ease and simplicity of outdoor recreational design.

 

OPENING RECEPTION: JAN 4, 7-9 PM.
ART TALK WITH VENESSA GROMEK: JAN 25, 7 PM.

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ANALOGITAL

JAN 18-APR 20, 2013

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Analogital analyzes the transitional space between analogue and digital as a pivot in a kind of perceptual evolution. 

 

It will function primarily as a survey of artists who have practices that address concerns moving from grain to pixel, digitizing analogue phenomena, analogizing digital phenomena, simulacra within visual culture, internet-oriented consciousness, memes, aesthetics of video game culture, and identity concerns related to social media. 

 

OPENING RECEPTION AND ART TALK WITH JENNIFER WEST: JAN 18, 7-10 PM.    

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E X H I B I T I O N S   
OF THE SIREN AND THE SKY

DEC 7, 2012-FEB 23, 2013

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Of the Siren and the Sky is the first proper museum exhibition on the career of Siren Bliss, a Salt Lake City native who has made more than 80,000 artworks. Curated by Triple Candie, the presentation includes recreations of the artist's drawings and sculptures, posters containing statements by him, and photographs and objects related to his life story.  

 

An enigma to anyone but his closest associates, Siren Bliss has eschewed all involvement with the mainstream contemporary art world. This exhibition provides a glimpse of an epic career, focusing primarily on work made by the artist during stints in Salt Lake City.  

 

Of the Siren and the Sky addresses a series of 750 sculptures he made, under the nom de guerre Sky Jones, with the homeless in 1992-93 as part of a recycling project, as well as work from the Bankers Art Museum where he operates under multiple pseudonyms.

 

Triple Candie was founded as a nonprofit art gallery in Harlem in 2001. Today, it is a nomadic organization that makes exhibitions about art, but without actual art or the involvement of artists.  More  

MEGAN GECKLER: NO CHANCE TO MOVE BACKWARDS AND SEE

NOV 2, 2012-FEB 23, 2013

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Megan Geckler creates site-specific installations using
brightly colored construction flagging tape, mathematical calculations, and color theory. Geckler's installation at UMOCA, No chance to move backwards and see, transforms the gallery space, inviting the viewer to take an exploratory journey through chromatic examples of architecture, design, sculpture, and painting.

 

Drawing from geometric illusionism and principles of design, No chance to move backwards and see presents woven wall murals, a custom sculptural extension of architectural elements, several modular sculptural works, and nine tape 'paintings' that offer a Josef Albers-esque color study of the colors of the installation.

 

Geckler's installation incorporates the gallery walls and spaces to create optically dazzling, geometric forms and patterns in blue, orange, green, and yellow. Carefully designed to continue and echo the dynamic forms of her successive flagging tape configurations, the sightlines from each entrance to the gallery yield a different experience of the layered colors and patterns therein. More  

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E X H I B I T I O N S  C L O S I N G  S O O N     
BATTLEGROUND STATES

OCT 5, 2012-JAN 5, 2013

white spaceBattleground States brings together artists who critically engage with the discourse of visual culture and gender studies. Through video, sculpture, installation, and photography, these works explore ideas of how figuration and identity are connected.

 

The exhibition begins with Utah artist Trevor Southey as his process of self-realization has made him an art historical pivot when discussing gender politics within the culture of Utah. The narrative continues by presenting generations of artists across the globe, leading the viewer along a path of self-realization in which concepts of coupling or completing the self are represented as spiritual quests.

 

Battleground States analyzes the space between traditional gender duality by exploring alternative forms such as the third gender, a generally foreign concept in Western culture. In their non-Western roles, these alternative identities denote a space for possibility and transcendence. The exhibition moves towards notions of the "post-gender" as a way to better understand how our cultural diversities open up interpretations of a third space. More  

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W E  N E E D  Y O U R  S U P P O R T    

Over the last several years, UMOCA has pursued the twin goals that are implicit in our new name: (1) to achieve national recognition as an important regional voice in the world of contemporary art; and (2) to build stronger and deeper ties to this place - Utah - that is our home. We are proud that these efforts are starting to bear fruit, and we hope you are too. 

 

Please help us to continue building a home for contemporary art here in Utah that is recognized nationally for the quality of its exhibitions and locally for its profound contributions to our citizens, our artists, and our sense of place.  

 

Whether you choose to give $50 for a new membership or $1,000 to make it possible for over 1,000 children to experience contemporary art through our Art Truck, please join us in making UMOCA the kind of civic and cultural institution that you will be excited and proud to share with your family and friends.

Donate here.   


Your support is critical. Please make a gift to the Annual Fund today! Donate here.
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secretEVE

DEC 29, 11 AM-10 PM DEC 30, 5:30-10 PM
DEC 31, 6-10 PM 

 

The #secretEVE stroll is an interactive pedestrian experience from Gallivan Center to the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art.  

 

13 artists from UMOCA have placed large and small art installations along Main Street and 100 South between these two venues. Look for the secretEVE icon on the sidewalk to find an expression Light. Art. Sound.  

 

Each time you find & share photos on instagram using the hashtag #secretEVE you will be entered for a chance to win ski passes, hotel nights, photo classes and more.  

 

For EVE only, UMOCA presents artist-made karaoke videos with styles from jazz to heavy metal. Showcase your talent while viewing awesome contemporary art.   

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FAMILY ART SATURDAY

JAN 12, 2-4 PM   

2013 ART CALENDARS  

 

Family Art Saturday is free and provides a great opportunity for kids and adults to make an innovative piece of art while learning about the exhibitions at UMOCA.

 

It's a new year, a time for new beginnings, resolutions, and blank calendars. Kids of all ages will design and make calendars to keep track of days and exciting events of 2013--scheduling art to be created year-round! 

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ART SHOP ARTIST OF THE MONTH

 

The UMOCA Art Shop featured Artist of the Month for January is Blake Palmer. Palmer creates prints that use mostly distressed, black and white images and hard-line, transparent silhouettes as a backdrop for color field and texture studies. Vibrant color bars divide Palmer's images using both matte and high gloss materials that give the 2-D images depth and a more complex use of space. Many other unique and fantastic local artists can also be found in our Art Shop!

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FELLOWSHIPS FOR VISUAL ARTS EXCELLENCE IN UTAH  

  

The Utah Division of Arts and Museums offers a $10,000 Visual Arts Fellowship each year to professional visual artists.

 

Fellowships are available for individual artists practicing crafts, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, artist's bookmaking, and working in new genres such as conceptual arts and video. Deadline is FEB 1, 2013. More.  


 

UMOCA NEWS FROM THE BOARD CHAIR 

  

As you may know, my friend and close associate, Adam Price, has stepped down as Executive Director after serving UMOCA whole-heartedly and purposefully since 2009.  

 

Despite this loss to the museum, I am pleased to announce that both the board and the staff are fully engaged in continuing seamless operations and community outreach at UMOCA.  

 

Over the last 75 plus years this institution has experienced other periods of change, and I believe that with the outpouring of support from the board, the dedication of the employees and the continued interest of the community, UMOCA will once again find this moment as an opportunity for positive growth.  

 

All operations and plans are moving forward at the museum, and we are looking hopefully into the New Year.

 

Finally, I cannot tell you enough how much your support means to the staff and the board of UMOCA.  

 

All of us wish you a happy new year and look forward to additional events planned for our museum friends in the coming year.

 

With thanks,

Roy Jespersen
Board Chair 

UTAH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART | 20 South West Temple | 801. 328. 4201