The University Art Gallery presents “an intrigue,” a selection of works by Sewanee’s senior art majors Kathleen Catherall, Emily Duncan, Frank Hand, Cara Martin, Virginia McCall, Sally Mills, Meg O’Neill, Sarah Peacock and Sarah Grace Pendergrass.
The new show will open at 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 12, in Convocation Hall with introductory remarks by the artists and a reception. The artists will formally present their work in a series of talks, 1:30–4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 13, in Convocation Hall,
“To intrigue” implies attraction or arousal—the wakening of curiosity or fascination—in addition to plotting, scheming, deceit and even artifice. It implies an appeal to what interests people; it implies creation, though highly designed and manipulative. Still, intrigue maintains an elusive quality. This word proves, in many ways, applicable to the activity of the artist. An intrigue, a plot, a design, an artifice—is this the artist’s objective? Is it the art object itself? Works selected for this exhibition participate in the multiplicity of implications carried by the word intrigue. The artists, led by curiosity, pose questions about human existence and begin to construct potential answers. In many cases, both the questions and answers remain elusive.
In the works presented as a part of this exhibition, the Sewanee art majors of 2013 investigate different aspects of the human experience. Several of the artists explore what it means to live in human society.
Frank Hand’s drawings illustrate the social dynamics of sameness and distinctiveness as figures variously fade into and emerge from an intricate fabric, texture or network of other individuals. Sarah Peacock explores, through photography, what it is to inhabit particular social circles and their corresponding environments. Meg O’Neill’s photography explores the tension between self-imposed isolation and the construction of barriers, and the simultaneous invitation of attention and appeal for emotional connection.
Works by several of the artists are concerned with the human body. Virginia McCall’s garments treat body as a façade that might either assume or violate socially created gender expectations. Kathleen Catherall’s drawings, paintings, sculptures, and videos call attention to the way in which the body is manipulated, brought under the control of outside forces and subjected to automatically triggered responses.
Others examine the human from philosophical perspectives. Emily Duncan’s drawings and photographs explore existential questions as they relate to the interaction between personal experience, memory and time. The painted surfaces of Sarah Grace Pendergrass consider epistemological questions as derived from an understanding of the human body that relies on multiple (and contradictory) models.
Even those works that do not deal directly with human subject matter contemplate the objects that attract human fascination—objects cared for, preserved, loved and played with by people. Cara Martin, through the craft of crochet, performs simultaneously protective and suffocating gestures upon collected natural objects and forms. Sally Mills, driven by her own fascination with paint and the painted surface, renders the shiny and alluring surfaces of beloved childhood toys.
All of these works participate—through drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and video—in an activity in which humans become both the subject and object of intrigue.
Sewanee’s University Art Gallery is located on Georgia Avenue. It is free, accessible and open to the public.
Hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; and 12– 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
Call 598-1223 for more information.
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