Working in painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, sculpture, and animation, iliana emilia García and Scherezade García combine painterliness, the figure, objects, and personal and communal history related to the Caribbean, post-colonialism, and exile. Their rich, multi-layered works draw upon deep relationships with music, both classical and popular, as well as literature, both poetry and prose. Co-organized by WP Professor of Art Alejandro Anreus, the exhibit showcases new work and site-specific installations by each artist.
The exhibition Fashion is a Verb: Art, Performance and Identity will be on view in the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts on campus from January 31 through May 6, 2022. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and select Saturdays and Sundays (April 9, April 23, and May 1) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. The opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, February 16 from 4 to 6 p.m., and will include a tour of the exhibition by co curator Laura Di Summa, a William Paterson University assistant professor of philosophy from 4:30 to 5 p.m.
Co-curated by Professor Di Summa and Kristen Evangelista, former director of the University Galleries, Fashion is a Verb: Art, Performance, and Identity investigates fashion as an everyday action and an art form that is inherently dynamic and linked to sociocultural issues. “To ‘fashion’ as a verb is to interrogate oneself and to examine the daily aesthetic practices that are necessary for the establishment of our identities, communities, and values,” says Di Summa.
On view in Court Gallery, this exhibition features work by faculty who teach animation, drawing, digital art, graphic design, textile design, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The works in the exhibition reveal the faculty’s unique artistic practices as they innovate across diverse media.
A Durable Thread: The Silk Road from China to America reimagines the Silk Road by connecting China to the “Silk City” of Paterson, New Jersey, bringing together a world of silk objects from Asia, Europe, and North America from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
Textile artists from the southwestern province of China known as Guizhou are renowned for their mastery of embroidery and indigo resist dyeing, also known as batik. Over centuries they have created a distinct visual language that continues to evolve in the hands of contemporary designers. This exhibition brings together embroidered festival costumes and textiles of the Buyi, Dong, Miao, Yao, and Zhuang people and new artworks utilizing resist dyeing, embroidery, and metalworking techniques by Chen Mei, Guo Jing, Huang Di, Ma Li, Pan Mei, Pan Taojie, Yuan Xiaole, and Zhang Sisi. Lenders to the exhibition include Guizhou Minzu University, Guizhou University of Commerce, Qiandongnan Vocational and Technical College for Nationalities, and the Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities.
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