Alumni Notes [Summer 2007]
LARRY BAMBURG (1997 BFA in painting and sculpture) will be included in an exhibition at Peter Blum Chelsea (New York). The exhibition entitled, Stubborn Materials features eight New York-based artists who use materials in a paradoxical manner in order to reinvigorate the interpretive possibilities of abstract art. These artists place attention on a particular detail or an overlooked element as a means to reorient the reading of the work. Their formal decisions investigate the metaphoric and narrative potential of materials. Larry Bamburg’s kinetic installation combines swirling fishing lines, scraps of paper, and an electric ceiling fan. This creates an unexpected experiential situation, where the evocative motion confuses the actual reading of the work, leaving the viewer to wonder if what he or she sees is a flock of birds, a swarm of insects, or just scraps of paper.
MARK COLLOP (2004 BFA in painting) completed his MFA in painting from Texas Women’s University, Denton in May. On August 3 he exhibited the collaborative installation, PINKBABYHEAD: The Second Coming, at the Pawn Gallery in Dallas.
COREY ESCOTO (2005 BFA in painting + drawing) completed his MFA in painting from Washington University, St. Louis in May. During summer he was one of 7 artists from seven countries included in 7 Days Brunch, a 7 day show presented in Basel, Switzerland during the Basel Art Fair. Corey was in attendance in Basel for the discussions the exhibition promoted (see more about the exhibition at www.7daysbrunch.com). Corey is one of three artists selected to be in the Great Rivers Biennial 2008 Exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (scheduled for early 2008). The honor also comes with a $20,000 prize, provided by the Gateway Foundation. The distinguished jurors for the Biennial are: Cheryl Brutvan, Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Lilian Tone, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, Director and Chief Curator, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado.
KATY HEINLIEN (1999 MFA in sculpture) has been announced as one of only ten finalists in the Miami University $10,000 National Young Sculptors Competition for the William and Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award. Selected by juror, Mary Ceruti, Executive Director of SculptureCenter in New York City, the finalists will be exhibited at the Heistand Galleries, Miami University in Oxford, OH in August and September. The winner will receive the $10,000 purchase prize and become part of the Miami University Best Young Sculptors of the Twenty-First Century Collection.
MARIE WEICHMAN (2000 MFA in ceramics had a piece entitled Chocolate Bar, in the exhibition From the Ground Up XXIII: Juried Regional Ceramics Exhibition (May 4 – June 30, Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, NM) receive one of three Museum Purchase Award prizes. This summer Marie completed a 7-week residency at the Pottery Workshop in in Jingdezhen China (her picture postings can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/roaddog).
Alumni of the TTU School of Art are invited to e-mail us landmarkarts@ttu.edu short items of recent activities, exhibitions, or other successes to be posted on this webpage. Please be sure to include the years at TTU in which area of study or the year a degree was received and in which area of specialization. You can also use the UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION form found at the ALUMNI tab of the School of Art website.