CLEMSON — Artists in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs at Clemson University, University of South Carolina and Winthrop University teamed with honors students at Clemson University in an undergraduate English Accelerated Composition course to explore and interpret the theme Corporeal Complexities: Bodies in Process. The end result is a juried exhibition of MFA work curated by the honors students. The Coordinator of Museum Interpretation at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, Ginia Sweeney juried the exhibit. The exhibition opens Dec. 10 and closes Jan. 30 with an artist reception Dec. 10, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. and Juror’s Discussion and Reception occurring Jan. 16, 6 – 7 p.m. in the Lee Gallery on Clemson’s campus.
Corporeal Complexities: Bodies in Process allows artists to explore how an apparently permanent world of seemingly unchanging humans is actually changing quite rapidly. Changes add and intersect with one another to create layers of complexity. The MFA students have explored these complexities, placing the human body in context of an ever-changing world. The artists selected for this exhibition include Laken Bridges, Tanna Burchinal, Vivianne Carey, Lindsey Elsey, Alex Giannell, Lee Ann Harrison, Mary Jane King, Nina Kawar, Joel Murray, Brent Pafford, Caley Pennington, Thomas Seay, Hilary Siber, Moses Tsai, and Samantha Valdez.
This exhibition is the product of an extended collaboration between the Center for Visual Arts and undergraduate honors students in English at Clemson University through the Clemson Curates initiative. Clemson Curates is the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration across the University to promote the arts. Faculty teach experiential-learning courses through a partnership with the CVA, allowing students to gain practical knowledge of how arguments are constructed and analyzed both within classrooms and in the broader world. These courses encourage students to consider different ways of constructing arguments as a core component of Clemson’s mission to emphasize writing across the disciplines. Students learn to consider the arts and visual rhetoric from a variety of perspectives and fields, providing them with a more comprehensive view––taking students from classroom-based knowledge to broader applications both inside and outside the arts.
The contributing students are Caroline Bales, Dustin Brecht, Jon Brownfield, Matthew Carson, Jonathan Drake, Meredith Ellis, Jake Flynn, David Gundana, Alexander Herd, Ethan Kirkland, Joseph Litts, Hannah Mace, Andrew Moore, Sophia Porach, Peter Rowan, Andrew Shumaker, Taylor Thompson, Katie Tobik, and Sean West. These students collaborated with several members of the Clemson University faculty and staff: Denise Woodward-Detrich, Lee Gallery director; John Morgenstern, visiting assistant professor of English; Kathy Edwards, research and collection development librarian; Jan Lay, Clemson computing and information technology technical learning instructor; Meredith Mims McTigue, CVA/art department marketing and public relations director; and Nathan Newsome, CVA-Lee Gallery intern.
The Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery at Clemson University will be open for this exhibit M – TH, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (excluding University holidays) and is located at 1-101 Lee Hall, 323 Fernow Street, Clemson, SC 29634. Gallery talks and reception are free and open to the public thanks in part to CVA generous donors. For more information about the Lee Gallery, contact Denise Woodward-Detrich, Director at woodwaw@clemson.edu.