Sunday, April 4, 2010

Between You and ME, Mills College MFA Thesis Exhibition 2010


BETWEEN YOU AND ME

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 1, 2010, 6-9 pm

Exhibition Dates: Sunday, May 2 to Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Mills College Art Museum is proud to present Between You and Me, the thesis exhibition for the 2010 Master of Fine Arts degree recipients. The exhibition showcases works by a promising group of emerging artists created during their graduate program in the Mills College MFA studio program. The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Hanor, Director of the Mills College Art Museum.

Between You and Me features work by Nic Buron, Joey Castor, Chris Fraser, Dana Hemenway, Kija Lucas, Bobby Lukas, Monica Lundy, Kate Stirr, Adam Vermeire and Doug G. Williams.

Driven by the desire to cultivate a sense of wonder, Kate Stirr creates otherworldly creatures, portrayed through drawings, video, and as sculpture, which explore the mysterious place between nature and artifice. Chris Fraser creates situations that address the links between light, pictures and experience. His installations isolate and idealize everyday occurrences: an open door, a curtain, the way the sunlight projects through the branches of a tree.

Nic Buron uses photography to examine the complexities of "place" and "placelessness,” focusing on Treasure Island, a location with a long history of transformation. Alternately, Bobby Lukas' sculptural work provides an avenue for voluntary simplicity and quiet romance, creating a contrast to the excesses of everyday
life.

Dana Hemenway is interested in how we understand and frame objects and experiences. She is fascinated with forms of aesthetic display. The resulting work ranges from video to sculpture to site-specific installation.

Kija Lucas uses the home environment as a setting to investigate the personal fairytale, stories that we tell in order to explain who we are. Her large-scale photographs are recreations of seemingly inconsequential moments that have changed the course of a
single lifetime or impacted several generations. With a similar interest in autobiography, Adam Vermeire explores how race continues to impact his life, searching for answers that cannot be found.

Joey Castor addresses various aspects of physical labor, focusing on how the repetitive, meditative and physical motions affect the body and mind. Monica Lundy's investigations of historical California criminals manifest in a series of paintings and sculpture that explore identity perception in relation to systems of social classification.

Doug G. Williams investigates the psychology of perception and persuasion in videos and interactive installations that are at once uncanny, humorous, and intimate.

The Mills College Art Museum, founded in 1925, is a dynamic center for art that focuses on the creative work of women as artists and curators. The Museum strives to engage and inspire the diverse and distinctive cultures of the Bay Area by presenting innovative exhibitions by emerging and established national and international artists. Exhibitions are designed to challenge and invite reflection upon the profound complexities of contemporary culture.

Mills College Art Museum
5000 MacArthur Boulevard
Oakland, CA 94613

510.430.2164

http://www.mills.edu/museum

Museum Hours:
Tuesday-Sunday 11:00-4:00pm
Wednesday 11:00-7:30pm
Closed Mondays

Admission is free for all exhibitions and programs.

MILLS COLLEGE ART MUSEUM
DATE: March 31, 2010

PRESS CONTACTS:
Lori Chinn, Program Manager, lchinn@mills.edu
Chris Fraser, Press Contact, cfraser@mills.edu
Abby Lebbert, Publicity Assistant, alebbert@mills.edu