UNT ArtSpace Dallas exhibition features the works of finalists from fall's 'Winner Takes All' event

Tuesday, July 28, 2015 - 15:01
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What: CADD FUNd 2014 Finalists exhibition shows the works of UNT and SMU students who were finalists in the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas emerging artists' Winner Takes All event last fall. Among those in the exhibition is winner Julie Libersat, a UNT graduate student who is developing the Roam smart phone app and used the money raised at the CADD event to support her project. Also representing UNT are graduate student Ellie Ivanova, and alumni Fari Rahimi and Lynné Bowman Cravens.

When: Aug. 15 (Saturday) to Sept. 26 (Saturday); Gallery hours are 5-8 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment during the month of August.

Where: UNT ArtSpace Dallas, 1901 Main St., Dallas, on the first floor of the University Center Building

Cost: Free

More information: More information about the UNT ArtSpace Dallas gallery and exhibitions, and other UNT art galleries, can be found on the UNT Galleries website.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Public artworks that challenge one's thoughts, explore the role of women in society, offer viewers different perspectives, and allow for interaction and exploration are the focus of an exhibition at UNT ArtSpace Dallas in August and September.

The six finalists from fall 2014's Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas' CADD FUNd: Winner Takes All event will show their work and works-in-progress at the downtown Dallas gallery from Aug. 15 to Sept. 26. Admission to the gallery is free.

Four of the six finalists are from UNT, including winner Julie Libersat, graduate student Ellie Ivanova, and alumni Fari Rahimi and Lynné Bowman Cravens. SMU finalists were Tim Best and Anansi Knowbody.

The finalists from UNT will show the following projects:

Julie Libersat

Libersat, who is pursuing master's degrees in art education and new media, will show a prototype of the Roam app. She won $5,500 from the fall competition to develop the app, which helps users get lost in the city and encourages them to document their adventures.

The interactive game facilitates urban exploration by allowing users to enter their starting location, destination and the amount of time they want to "play." The app then takes them on an indirect route that allows the users to explore different parts of the city. It also prompts them to document their experiences in videos and photos, and shares their documentation with other users.

The resulting map of everyone's journeys gives an experiential representation of space, Libersat said. The final version of the app will be ready in November.

Lynné Bowman Cravens

Bowman Cravens' proposal was a fabric piece called Scrutinize, a large fabric wall hanging approximately 8 feet by 6 feet. The piece drapes on the wall, with the top portion pulling away slightly to loom over the viewer. The surface of the piece is tessellated by folding the fabric, similar to origami. This tessellated pattern builds on the complex nature of the anxiety associated with women's roles, she said.

"The surface of the tessellations are covered with images of my eyes, confronting and staring at the viewer," said Bowman Cravens. "Scrutinize was inspired by the immense pressure for women to fit into roles based on their age and place in society. It explores feminine anxiety towards the roles of women in society. This piece is an exploration of identity through investigating these roles. As I move through my life, I am constantly confronted by these roles and questioned about how I fit into them. My own feelings made me want to analyze the roles society expects of me, but I also question my reluctance to conform to them."

Ellie Ivanova

Ivanova's proposal came out her work documenting World War II reenactments. That war, considered one that gives contemporary society models of justice and masculinity, has been interpreted through participants' personal experiences and by making it personal, the societal memory of the war can change and be misremembered, she noted.

"My project explores memory – how it changes our perception of the past over time and what role photography plays in that," Ivanova said. "For this project, I use mordançage, an experimental acid-based process that causes the emulsion of a traditional black and white photographic print to lift from the paper and form veils and bubbles, and ultimately dramatically change the image. The goal is to show how memory acts to change reality over time. The process, which can't be completely controlled and produces unique, unrepeatable results, is destructive of the original photograph but creates a new, unpredictable one in which the shadows become the brightest parts of the image. I believe it is symbolic of the way we rely on memory to tell a new story out of our personal experience."

 

Fari Rahimi

Rahimi 's proposal was for a large outdoor stainless steel sculpture in the shape of a hollow cube. The sculpture was intended to offer the viewer a unique perspective on nature, dimension, time and space, she said. Titled "I AM HERE," the intent was to draw attention to the present moment as it is reflected in the ever changing composition on the surface of all sides of the stainless steel cube. Depending on its surroundings and the viewer's relationship to the work, the piece takes on a transparent or transformative quality, said Rahimi, who will continue to submit this proposal to other public art calls for proposals.

"My inspiration for this project was to create a piece of public art that would enhance the surrounding environment, and inspire greater appreciation for the landscapes that often go unnoticed in our daily lives," she said. "The piece would act as a mirror and a magnifying glass to the beauty that surrounds us."

UNT ArtSpace Dallas is at 1901 Main St., Dallas, on the first floor of the University Center Building. Gallery hours are 5-8 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment during the month of August.

More information about the UNT ArtSpace Dallas gallery and exhibitions, and other UNT art galleries, can be found on the UNT Galleries website.

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