Newcomers to UNM's new art studio graduate program aren't wasting any time.
"Incoming: New Graduates in Art Studio" opened at the Jonson Gallery last week. Although some pieces fail to tell viewers much about the students, others such as Mary Goodwin's lenticular photography and Erin Emiko Kawamata's mixed-media pieces, are worth making the trip for.
Goodwin covered an image on paper with plastic, creating a hologram that changes depending on the angle it is looked at. In "American Idol Series," she juxtaposed images of missing children with those of the contestants from the first American Idol season.
Goodwin said a wave of stories about abducted children hit the news in the summer of 2002, when in actuality the number of missing children had actually dropped from the previous year.
"I came to view the body of stories as a manufactured crime wave by the media," she said. "The media poses stories such as this as a kind of entertainment."
Goodwin used the American Idol images to highlight fame versus infamy, as the abducted children were thrust into the public light just as the contestants of the show were.
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"It's a pretty disturbing phenomenon," she said.
Goodwin's media commentary continues in "Dictators Series," where she juxtaposes images of world leaders with works of art they decided to temporarily or permanently remove and with images of war victims. Goodwin got the idea when Picasso's "Guernica," an antiwar painting, was covered forthree days of Colin Powell's testimony to the United Nations when America was making its case to go to war with Iraq.
"There is something really strange about that," Goodwin said. "After I made that connection, I started to look into other times that has happened."
In "Potential," Kawamta created a wooden box with balloons inside and poetic words hung from thread. She carefully sewed cyanotypes of beautiful clouds on the balloons. Cyanotype is an alternative photo process that produces a blue image. The colors, along with the execution are exceptional.
Daniel Kaufman's platinum-toned collotypes prints are also notable. Their simple elegance makes them a delightful addition to the show.
Sara Magnuson's burnt cork landscapes almost cover an entire wall of the gallery. Her precision in creating this farmland, plus the movement she gives the electrical lines, needs to be seen close up to really be appreciated.
"Incoming" is a great platform for introductions to the studio art program's 12 new graduate students while also providing a benchmark to measure how they grow as they progress through their program.
"It's an excellent show, and we look forward to working with these students throughout the year," said Chip Ware, curator at Jonson Gallery.
Incoming: New Graduates in Art Studio
Jonson Gallery
Runs Through Oct. 1
Grade: B
