The Galleries at the University of Mary Washington will be hosting three new exhibitions with one exhibition beginning this month. Two of these exhibits will include artwork by UMW students.
The first exhibit, called Ritual, opens Wednesday Feb. 17 in duPont Gallery and will continue until Friday Feb. 26. The next two exhibits, Video: Shedding the Utopian Moment in Ridderhof Martin Gallery and Senior Exhibition (II) in duPont Gallery will open on Wednesday, March 16 and continue through March 26.
Ritual is the first exhibit that will host senior art students from UMW. The students, Holly Bliss, Jade Brooks, Noah Enders, Iainne Johnson, Shannon Merryman, Nicole Bethune, Nick Coladonato, Courtney Greathouse, Elizabeth Maldonato, Tanner Roe, Tara Sargent and Meghan Shea will present artwork ranging from acrylic to video editing.
Senior Nick Coladonato, who will be presenting video installation for his role in the show, said the exhibit will feature an eclectic variety of artwork from students. In addition, there will be live music during the opening night.
“It really is a community effort, and I’m excited to see how it turns out,” Coladonato said.
The next exhibit Video: Shedding the Utopian Moment explores feminist video art from the 1980s, inspired by artist and theorist Martha Rosler’s influential essay “Video: Shedding the Utopian Moment” (1985-86). According to Rachel Hutcheson, exhibition coordinator at Ridderhof Martin Gallery, video art has been very little explored in standard art histories.
The exhibition will focus on five video artworks by Cecelia Condit, Ximena Cuevas, Maxi Cohen, Mona Hatoum and Ericka Beckman. In addition, there will be a special screening of two additional media artworks, “Damnation of Faust Trilogy” (1983-1987 video) by Dara Birnbaum and “Mayhem” (1987 film) by Abigail Child. The date and time for the special screening will be announced at a later date.
The second senior art exhibition will also feature several UMW student artists, including Christina Beckham, Lindsey Brannon, Tyler Duenas, Rachel Hendrian, Shymonique Jackson, Allison Klem, Hannah McConaughy, Alison Mullen, Sarah Pembleton, Lillian Schloeder, Kate Tiller, Kacie Waters-Heflin and Taylor White.
Following the second senior art exhibition, there will be an annual student art exhibition holding its opening reception on Wednesday, April 6 from 4-6 p.m. The student artwork will be juried by an artist or arts professional during the exhibition. The exhibition can be viewed from Thursday, April 7 to Friday, April 29.