Texas Tech University

Betting on the Sun
Curated by Bethany Springer

Art Building Landmark Gallery
February 16 - April 16, 2023

LUBBOCK, Texas – Landmark Arts in the Texas Tech University School of Art proudly presents Betting on the Sun, an exhibition of contemporary sculpture curated by Bethany Springer. This exhibition was presented in conjunction with the 2023 Texas Sculpture Symposium, that took place March 24-25, 2023.

Betting on the Sun, a contemporary sculpture exhibition, The exhibition featured works by nine regional artists including: Ellen Babcock (Albuquerque, NM), Leticia Bajuyo (Norman, OK), Pedram Baldari (Denton, TX), Nooshin Hakim Javadi (South Bend, IN), Autumn Knight (Houston, TX), Billy Joe Miller (Albuquerque, NM), Joshua Mintz (New Orleans, LA), Gretchen Marie Schaefer (Denver, CO), and Nicole Wilson (Fayetteville, AR).

Leticia Bajuyo
Leticia R. Bajuyo (Norman, OK) detail from Edge Friction: Green and Greener, glass, ceramic ink, and hardware, 12 x 36 inches (2018) .

Says Springer about the artistes selected, “The artists and collaborative teams selected for this exhibition acknowledge and utilize facets of the historically bounded category of sculpture yet are not easily classified. Their work suggests an infinite malleability – a demonstration of elasticity and heterogeneity described by Rosalind Krauss in the seminal “Sculpture in the Expanded Field” – while signaling a new era of logic rooted in survival.”

Gretchen Marie Schaefer
Gretchen Marie Schaefer (Denver, CO) detail from Inclined Fold From Above, digital video, 2:33 minutes (2021) .

Bethany Springer is an Associate Professor in Sculpture + Experimental Media at the University of Arkansas. Springer is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Individual Fellowships from the Arkansas and Iowa Arts Councils, and a Community Research Award from the UA Community and Family Institute. Springer's installations have been exhibited at venues including the Delaware Contemporary, 21C Museum Hotel, Maryland Art Place (MAP), Boston Center for the Arts, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and numerous other venues, including, most recently as a contributor to the Personal Structures exhibition at the 2022 Venice Art Biennale.

Joshua Mintz
Joshua Mintz (New Orleans, LA) detail from I Can Hear Your Dirt, wood, foam, plaster, fabric, resin, polymer clay, LEDs, Arudino, scritta, DNA, porcelain, insulation, cotton, soil and acrylic, installation dimensions variable (2022).

Landmark Arts Exhibitions and Speaker Programs are generously supported by a grant from the Still Water Foundation, Austin.  Additional support comes from Cultural Activities Fees administered through the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts.