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Senior Thesis art exhibition to open in several venues
By JOE BRITTAIN
Reporter Contributor
"APPENDIX," an exhibition organized, curated, installed and promoted by students in the Department of Art's "Senior Thesis" class, will open tonight with displays in several separate venues.
The work of the 46 graduating artists will occupy space in Soundlab, 505 Pearl St.; the Sarah Beth Building, 1233 Main St.; the Art Department Gallery on the lower level of the Center for the Arts, North Campus, and the UB Art Gallery's Second-Floor Gallery and Room 208 in the CFA.
The exhibition's opening receptions will take place from 5-7 p.m. in the CFA sites, with a performance from 6-6:15 p.m. in the Atrium; from 6-9 p.m. in Soundlab, with two performances from 7-7:45 p.m., and from 6-10 p.m. in the Sarah Beth building. The exhibition will run through April 24.
Over the past two semesters, students enrolled in "Senior Thesis" have focused on subjects and materials of their preference, presenting their work and having it critiqued inside a fluid classroom setting. In addition to this break from traditional curriculum, the students formed their own curatorial, public relations and design committees in order to organize, curate, install and promote "APPENDIX"—a first for a "Senior Thesis" show.
The conceptual "elbow room" that resulted from the students' independence created a setting for experimentation with non-traditional media, such as performance, computer programming, video and public-intervention, in combination with the standard painting, photography and sculpture. This variance in art material and presentation is mirrored in the eclectic subject matter of "APPENDIX."
The show has been arranged into five conceptual groupings: public sphere, private sphere, identity, gender and "culture in question," with projects ranging from documentation of Buffalo's graffiti to the United States' current foreign policy.
Loosely centered on these categories, the works have been arranged in the five venues in order to inform each other, as well as create a dialogue with their locations. "APPENDIX" is using both the university's traditional gallery spaces and abandoned city spaces in order to connect the often-isolated student work with the neglected local community, allowing each artist's work another level of comment.
"APPENDIX" presents a fresh look at the state of the arts within today's climate of political and social unrest.
Hours for the exhibition sites are as follows: Art Department Gallery, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; UB Art Gallery Second Floor Gallery and 208 CFA, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and Sarah Beth Building, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 10-12 and 17-19. Hours for Soundlab were unavailable at press time.