Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Without

September 24 - October 8, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 24 at 5-8pm

Without is a themed exhibition of works by California MFA students curated by Meleko Mokgosi, graduate student in the UCLA Department of Art. This exhibition begins with the stipulation that all featured artists are either from or descendants of "non-Western" regions and cultures. As there is no trenchant division between "Western" and "non-Western," especially given today's transcultural context, we apply these terms in the loosest sense. Our definition of "non-Western" includes countries—specifically those in Africa, Asia and Latin/Central America—whose cultural and material histories have often been excluded within the Western canon of art history.

Observing individual artistic practices will re-locate the need for specificity in the gallery context; a need that has been lost within many contemporary trends that ignore differences in order to produce a more uniformed, global (and arguably more digestible) culture. Biographical details—where someone is from, receives an education and currently resides—are inescapable factors contributing to one's creative production. This exhibition will not only further engage viewers' sensitivities to geographical and cultural diversity but also examine how "non-Western" art is displayed and historicized.

Artists:

Allison Alford
Claremont Graduate University

Rashin Fahandej
San Francisco Art Institute
crystal am nelson
San Francisco Art Institute
Daniela Campins
Univeristy of California, Santa Barbara

Rema Ghuloum
California College of the Arts
Thinh Nguyen
Claremont Graduate University
Carlos Castro
San Francisco Art Institute

Steve Kim
Claremont Graduate University
Daniel Porras
California State University Fullerton
Cat Chiu Phillips
San Francisco Art Institute

Connie DK Lane
California State University Long Beach
Carlos Ramirez
California College of the Arts
Harry Diaz
California State University Long Beach

Noritaka Minami
University of California, Irvine
Kenneth Tam
University of Southern California
Alexis Disselkoen
University of California, Irvine

Kusum Harchandrai Nairi
San Francisco Art Institute
Paulina Velázquez Solís
San Francisco Art Institute


http://www.art.ucla.edu/gallery/2009-10/Theme09Without.html
A temporary space?