Fundraising Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 18, 2005
Inés Huergo, Program and Special Events Coordinator
E: ihuergo@atlanticcenterforthearts.org T: 386.427.6975

Photos:
Briena Harmening, McMinnvilee, mixed media
Mikel Durlam, brrrvvvkwkkkk, mixed media, 24”x20”x42”

ACA 16th Annual University Student Exhibition

Atlantic Center for the Arts presents its 16th University Student Exhibition July 22 – August 17. Through this annual exhibition, Atlantic Center honors the outstanding work being produced by state university art students, and recognizes their dedication to the pursuit of excellence.

This year, painter and former ACA Master Artist in residence, Christopher Wool juried the work of 24 students representing nine universities; five artists from four universities were selected. By identifying and promoting these emerging artists, Atlantic Center hopes to focus statewide attention on the high level of creative and experimental work being produced at the college level. In addition, Atlantic Center commends the efforts of the faculty in the state universities’ art departments.

An opening reception for the artists will be held Friday, July 22 from 5 to 7 PM in the Everbach Painting Studio, Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1414 Art Center Avenue, New Smyrna Beach; the reception is free and the public is invited. Refreshments will be available and the artists will be in attendance.

“I must state the obvious which is how extremely difficult it is selecting for an exhibition of this kind,” says juror Christopher Wool. “This difficulty embodies for me the bigger and most problematic issue, that of subjectively judging ‘quality’ in art in general. Of course many seem equally deserving and I find myself uncomfortable being the chooser just as I’ve never been comfortable with others judgment of my work. Ultimately I tried to look to what is for me most important by focusing on the individual applicants personal visions over their level of accomplishment. More than specific achievement I looked for a willingness to take risks and a sense of discovery. Here are five young artists work,” he introduces.

The students selected by Wool include Alberto Biojo who was born in Colombia. He came to the US five years ago in search of a better education and a better life. Biojo is currently a senior at FSU double majoring in Art History and Fine Arts. Kelly Boehmer is starting her Masters in Fine Arts at University of South Florida next year. Presently she is an Art Instructor for Fabrications 1 and 2. She has had shows at the Contemporary Art Museum and Centre Gallery in Tampa; Project Cero in St. Petersburg; Maryland Institute College of Art in Maryland; The Lewis Gallery in Baltimore, among many others. Mikel Durlam is a member of Fluff Constructivism, an interdisciplinary art collaborative and collective. He is also a teaching assistant in Sculpture at University of South Florida where he is starting his Master of Fine Arts. Durlam has showed in various venues in South Florida, Chicago, Buffalo and Iowa. Briena Harmening is currently a student of Fine Arts at Florida Gulf Coast University as well as a free lance artist. She has been an artist in residence at Uffelman Elementary in Cookeville, TN, and has been part of several FGCU group shows. Stephen Tomasovitch is a student at University of North Florida pursuing a BA in drawing and painting. He has showed his work in several university group shows.

Juror Christopher Wool had his first solo exhibition in 1984 at the Cable Gallery in New York and subsequently has been included in numerous museum exhibitions including the Whitney Biennale in 1989, both Documenta and the Carnegie International in 1991, the Istanbul Biennial in 1999 and the Biennale Lyon in 2003. He has had over three dozen solo gallery exhibitions and a number of museums have organized one person exhibitions. In 1989/90 he spent a year as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, and a year in Berlin in 1993/94 with the DAAD. Wool has also authored a large number of artists books, the most recent being East Broadway Breakdown, a book of black and white photographs published in 2003. His work will be the subject of a survey exhibition in 2006 at IVAM in Valencia Spain. Wool was a Master Artist at ACA in 2002.

For more information on public programs at ACA, telephone 386-427-6975.