As 2021 nears, CONGRATULATIONS to all the students minoring and majoring in Art who graduated in 2020! Thank you for sharing your energy, creativity, and enthusiasm with us @islanduniversity ! We continue to miss seeing you and your art in the studios.
Special shout-outs to Spring 2020 BFA students who worked so hard on their Thesis Group Exhibition which was scheduled to be on display at the TAMU-CC Islander Art Gallery at the beginning of May 2020. Unfortunately, these artists were only able to exhibit their artwork online as the university respected the Stay at Home Emergency Declaration issued by the City of Corpus Christi. Their exhibitions continue to be available to audiences digitally at http://cla.tamucc.edu/art/Events.html
In the next posts, anticipate features on the sculptors who graduated last Spring with updates about life as Islander Alumni in the year of Covid.
Each and Every, Beili Liu photo credit Amos Morgan
Beginning 42 years ago, the faculty of the Department of Art + Design at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi have coordinated the Oso Bay Biennial, representing the various disciplines practiced in the department.
For 2020, Oso Bay Biennial XXI will focus on artworks and techniques that connect and contribute to the interdisciplinary nexus of Sculpture and three-dimensional artmaking, including installation and ceramics.
On Wednesday – Saturday, September 23-26, the Oso Bay Biennial XXI: A 2020 Vision – Symposium will feature an online series of three panel discussions, gallery talks, a talk by Houston-based curator and Oso Bay Biennial XXI exhibition juror Dr. Volker Eisele, and a keynote address by artist and UT Austin Professor Beili Liu.
Wednesday, September 23, 6:30-8:00pm PANEL SESSION: MATTER MATTERS A panel presentation and discussion with artists who explore an interdisciplinary approach to media, craft, and engagement.
Moderator: Richard W. James, Assistant Professor of Sculpture/Ceramics, TAMU-CC
Thursday, September 24th – 6:30-8:00pm ONLINE RECEPTION with gallery talks and tours
This evening of art bursts and gallery talks will be moderated by: Joshua Duttweiler, Assistant Professor of Art Graphic Design, TAMU-CC Leticia R. Bajuyo, Associate Professor of Sculpture, TAMU-CC
This evening will include:
A presentation by, Joshua Duttweiler, the newest addition to the TAMU-CC Art and Design Faculty.
A discussion about the history of the Oso Bay Biennial between Louis Katz, Professor of Ceramics and Greg Reuter, Professor Emeritus of Sculpture.
Art bursts and gallery talks from arts institutions in Corpus Christi and Rockport as we visit exhibitions and learn more about their programming in our art community.
Beili Liu, Professor of Art at the University of Texas at Austin MFA in Mixed Media/Sculpture/Installation from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BA in Graphic Design from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Assoc. B.A. in Chinese Literature and Communication from Shenzhen University, China
Beili Liu is a visual artist who creates material-and-process-driven, site-responsive installations. Oftentimes embodying transience, fragility, and the passage of time, Liu’s immersive installations are engaged with multifaceted dichotomies: lightness contrasted with heft; fierceness countered by resilience; and chaos balanced by quiet order. Working with commonplace materials and elements such as thread, scissors, paper, stone, fire, and water, Liu manipulates their intrinsic qualities to extrapolate complex cultural narratives. Janet Koplos spoke of Liu’s works as “materially simple but metaphorically rich” (Art in America Review, April 2009).
Moderator: Dr. Laura Petican, Associate Professor and Director of University Galleries
Friday, September 25, 6:00-7:30pm PANEL SESSION: FOUNDATION MATTERS A panel presentation and discussion about 3D teaching philosophies, approaches, and goals emphasizing teaching experience at community colleges in South Texas.
Saturday, September 26, noon-1:30pm PANEL SESSION: NETWORK MATTERS A panel presentation and discussion about opportunities for connecting, exhibiting, and developing by seeking communities and collaboration locally, regionally, and nationally.
Saturday, September 26, 2:00-3:30pm PRESENTATION FROM THE VIEW AS A CURATOR, DIRECTOR, AND JUROR
Dr. Eisele is the director and founder of ArtScan and directs the Rudolph Blume Fine Art/ArtScan Gallery at 1836 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas. In 2016, Dr. Eisele co-founded the city-wide festival Sculpture Month Houston. http://sculpturemonthhouston.org https://www.rudolphblume.com During this presentation, Dr Eisele will be presenting and sharing about his experience with Sculpture Month Houston and then about his work jurying the exhibition Oso Bay Biennial XXI: Matter Matters. In this presentation, he will be announcing awards (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards along with three honorable mentions). Additionally, he will be sharing curatorial responses about these recipients’ work and about seven additional selected artists’ artworks.
Co-Moderators: Leticia R. Bajuyo, Associate Professor of Sculpture, TAMU-CC Dr. Laura Petican, Associate Professor and Director of University Galleries, TAMU-CC Plus, some special guests during the last 30 minutes of the event!
The symposium and all related events are open to the public.
A primary component of this year’s biennial was a national juried exhibition at the TAMU-CC Weil Art Gallery, co-sponsored by TAMU-CC, Texas Sculpture Group and Mid-South Sculpture Alliance. This show was juried and curated by Sculpture Month Houston founder, Dr. Volker Eisele. In addition to his work with SMH, he was the director and founder of ArtScan and directs the Rudolph Blume Fine Art/ArtScan Gallery at 1836 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas.
During his Curator’s Talk on Saturday, September 26 at 2pm, Dr Eisele will be presenting and sharing about his experience with Sculpture Month Houston and then about his work jurying the exhibition Oso Bay Biennial XXI: Matter Matters. In this presentation, he will be announcing awards (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards along with three honorable mentions). Additionally, he will be sharing curatorial responses about these recipients’ work and about seven additional selected artists’ artworks.
Curator’s Statement
When I was first asked to jury this competition, I was excited, but when I saw the ambition and the energy of the works that were submitted, I was thrilled. As a juror, this experience had one advantage over other open-call competitions – it had a stated focus on three-dimensional arts, specifically sculpture. This way, one could compare apples to apples.
The variety, the sometimes-brazen inventiveness, the re-purposing of materials of so many works gives this exhibition the feeling of a validating survey of what is going on in sculpture in Texas and across the country in response to this national call for submission. It certainly is not encyclopedic, but the visitor is treated to a lively platform of artistic ideas that is percolating not only through this particular locus, but throughout a vast, instantaneously connected art world. Art again proves to be an important communication medium, one that informs emotional states or social connectivity.
My own bias veers towards sculptural art that is unapologetically progressive, exuberant, and ambitious in scale. Being influenced by my curatorial experiences with installation art at the “Silos” for Sculpture Month Houston, I am partial to three-dimensional art that uses space itself as just another material like clay in order to create palpable structures and textures. These structures can then build a framework that supports a vast universe of ideas or even entire visions.
There are so many creative positions in this show that I can highlight just a few of them. Right away I was struck, in a positive way, by how many accomplished artists, some of them I knew, chose to enter the competition and how well the younger artists at the beginning of their careers were measuring up and holding their own. They, no doubt, brought a measure of freshness and quirkiness to the table.
Art that is environmentally sensitive and stimulates awareness of this looming environmental threat is represented in surprising numbers. The sculpture/installation Despeciation Study about the commercial habitat destruction of the Kemp Ridley sea turtles is a truly engaging piece that reflects on the fate and possible extinction of this species. It is a work that transforms the cold scientific facts into images of a new symbolism that can engage the visitors’ and the public’s long-term emotions rather than effect a burst of short-lived activism.
Another great feature of this exhibition is the almost endless variety of materials that has been used. That in itself can send complex messages about the nature of objects and how we experience and memorize them. I cherish the tactile qualities of the many individual pieces that are enhanced by their juxtaposition of classical and non-traditional materials.
So many works stood out as they were crafted with great finesse; some were outright funny or subtly ironic, some forged new aesthetic paths or created structures with delicate equilibrium and fluidity. I was also glad to see that a few interesting figurative pieces were submitted among the many conceptual works and made it into the final selection.
All of the works in this exhibition were created with great zeal and often come from deeply personal places. They seem to ask the viewer to engage in an existential discourse in our times of cultural upheaval and social volatility.
RESCHEDULED Juried Exhibition: Weil Art Gallery August 28-September 26, 2020
Originally, this exhibition was scheduled to be on display in April of 2020 leading up to a symposium and closing reception on April 25, 2020.
In respect of TAMU-CC COVID 19 guidelines, the exhibition was rescheduled. Additionally, for in-person viewing, the gallery is open to members of the TAMU-CC community (faculty, staff, and students) and is only available by appointment Monday-Friday 10am-5pm. To schedule a visit, contact the SAMC Events Coordinator, Wes Jones via email James.Jones@tamucc.edu, or phone (361) 825-3756.
A primary component of this year’s biennial will be a national juried exhibition at the Weil Art Gallery, co-sponsored by TAMU-CC, Texas Sculpture Group and Midsouth Sculpture Alliance, and juried and curated by Sculpture Month Houston founder, Dr. Volker Eisele.
Dr. Eisele is the director and founder of ArtScan and directs the Rudolph Blume Fine Art/ArtScan Gallery at 1836 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas. In 2016, Dr. Eisele co-founded the city-wide festival Sculpture Month Houston. http://sculpturemonthhouston.org https://www.rudolphblume.com
Postcard images: (top row) Amelia Key, Deidre Argyle; (bottom row) Christyn Overstake, Jason Makepeace, and James Wade
The Weil Gallery invited artwork that utilizes traditional and/or contemporary methods of creating objects. Entries considered a third dimension (even if a narrow or variable one) and were created in a manner that the matter, materials, and techniques used matter to the concept, experience, and outcome of the artwork. Artwork selected by juror Dr. Volker Eisele will be on exhibit in the Islander Gallery August 28-September 26, 2020.
Below are the artists’ names and images of their artworks that were selected by juror Dr. Volker Eisele to be included in this juried exhibition. Several of these artworks will be on display during the upcoming rescheduled exhibition in the TAMU-CC Islander Art Gallery.
Artist: Jill Bedgood Title:Soliloquy Dimensions: 8 ft x 10 ft x 10 inches Media: Mixed Media: cast plater, hair, watercolor Year: 2015
Artist: Silas Breaux Title:Construct #3 Dimensions: 50in x 52in x 9in Media: Relief Prints, Beeswax, and Wood Year: 2018Artist: Silas Breaux Title: Construct #6 Dimensions: 25inx35inx5in Media: Relief Prints, Beeswax, and Wood Year: 2018Artist: Geofffrey Broderick Title:Oceanic Dimensions: 12in x 24in x 9in Media: Cast Iron
Artist: Jason Brown Title:Survey Description: A triangulated landscape set atop a tripod, this object combines a surveyor’s tripod with a fragment of a mountainous landscape. It was motivated by reclamation projects on abandoned mining sites. Dimensions: 48 x 18 x 8 inches Media: cast iron, steel, flocking, paint Year: 2020
Artist: Susan Budge Title:Bronze Bird Dimensions: 24in x 8in x 5in Media: stoneware Year: 2019
Artist: Green A Studios Collaborative Title:Despeciation Study: Bearded Saki Habitat Fragmentation Aluminum Smelting Plant Description: Cast aluminum tree stump, cast bronze replica of a Bearded Saki skull from a 3D print of a digital scan. Dimensions: 36in x 6in x 6in Media: Cast Aluminum, Cast Bronze Year: 2019
Artist: Green A Studios Collaborative Title: Conservation Study: Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle USDFW Hatchling Program Padre Island Description: Styrofoam coolers containing local Texas beach sand and cast porcelain egg forms. Dimensions: 42inx17inx12in Media: Styrofoam, spray paint, local sand, porcelain. Year: 2019
Artist: Green A Studios Collaborative Title:Despeciation Study: Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle Commercial Fishing/Habitat Destruction Description: Wall mounted aluminum frame, with fishing net, cast bronze object from a 3D printed digital scan of a Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle skull. Dimensions: 42in x 12in x 30 in Media: Aluminum, Net, Bronze. Year: 2019
Artist: Caroline Covington Title:Vincible: Roach Dimensions:3in x 2in x 2in Media: fabric and shelf Artist: Jennifer Crescuillo Title:Calcified Panasonic Description: made from recycled factory glass Dimensions:12in x 16 in x 7in Media: kiln cast glass Year: 2019Artist: Jennifer Crescuillo Title:Cassette Impression Dimensions:3in x 5in x 2in Media: kiln cast glass Year: 2019
Artist: Kelly Curtiss Title:Surmount Dimensions:19in x 12in x 12.5in Media: Cast Aluminum Year: 2018
Artist: Kelly Curtiss Title: Iron Knot Dimensions: 5.5in x 5in x 7in Media: Cast Iron Year: 2017
Artist: Kelly Curtiss Title:Knot 3 Dimensions: 6in x 6.5in x 4in Media: Raku Ceramic Year: 2018
Artist: Josie Del Castillo Title:Healing, Learning, and Growing Dimensions: 40 1/2 in x 48 in Media: Oil on cut wood panels Year: 2020
Artist: Janye Duryea Title:Memory Dimensions: 16in diameter X 8in wide Media: Hot sculptured glass Year: 2018
Artist: Kurt Dyrhaug Title:Small Vertical Wing Dimensions: 218in x 8in x 7.5in Media: 3d print and metal coating Year: 2019
Artist: Jeff Foster Title: Antiquated Apparatus Dimensions: 26in x 19in x 29in Media: Ceramic Year: 2019
Artist: Jack Gron Title: Hard Rain 1 Dimensions: 13in X 5in X 8in Media: laminated red oak Year: 2019
Artist: Jack Gron Title:The Great Sphinx and the Endless Enigma Dimensions: 13in X 6in X 16in Media: mixed woods, laminated and charred Year: 2019
Artist: Stephen Hawks Title:I too am in America Dimensions: 33 in X 12 in X 7 in Media: ceramic Year: 2019 Artist: Meghan Hendley Title:Requiem for the Corals Description: This is a video of the sculpture signifying the haunting coloration of coral that is dying. The silicone acts as the fading structure while the lights show the life that once was there. By being on a female body, the connection between mother and mother earth is made. Dimensions: 3 ft x 2 ft x 1 ft Media: LED Lights, Mannequin, Silicone Year: 2020Artist: Haley Inyart Title:Meat Table Description: This piece started as a kitchen table and was transformed into the shape of a steak referencing the act of being more in tune with the food we are buying and eating. Each chair has an image of a cow hand carved on them. Two cows are dead, while the other two are alive. Dimensions: 78 in. x 78 in. x 43 in Media: wood Year: 2019
Artist: Norman Kary Title:We work the Black seam together Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 6 Media: cast figures and threat and wood Year: 2019
Artist: Amelia Key Title:Bloom Dimensions: 5ft 4in x 8ft 4in x 10in Media: mixed media Year: 2018
Artist: Felipe Lopez Title:Purification System Description: During The duration of the exhibition this piece a will grow a plant through the top of the sculpture using dyed water, over time the water will loose its coloration due to the purification process thus changing the nature of the plant. Dimensions:10 ft x 4in x 6in Media: acrylic pipe, wood, rocks, water pump, sand, metal, soil, flowers, organic cotton, charcoal
Artist: Jason Makepeace Title:Deeply Embedded Aquamarine Kayak Description: Sculpture is carved from one single log of Oak and then painted. Dimensions: 22in x 14.5in x 15in Media: Single Carved Log of Oak and Paint Year: 2019Artist: Jason Makepeace Title:Tandem Description: Sculpture is carved from one single log of Oak and then painted. Dimensions: 32in x 9in x 9in Media: Single Carved Log of Oak and Paint Year: 2019
Artist: Peter Mangan Title:Still Standing Description: Abstracted figurative sculpture. Dimensions: 36in x 16in x 11in Media: steel, glass, copper, brass, and juniper wood Y
Artist: Wells Mason Title:Umasi Sculpture (‘Chopsticks’) Description: This is ‘Chopsticks’ from The Umasi Collection. This is one of three pieces that are part of this installation. Since this installation suggests that art can’t be contained – it bursts out and enters your mind – this is the only piece of the installation that is wall-mounted. Dimensions: 36in x 27in x 13in Media: wood, metal, paint Artist: Wells Mason Title:Umasi Sculpture (‘Chaos’) Description: This is ‘Chaos’ from The Umasi Collection. This is one of three pieces that are part of this installation. Since this installation suggests that art can’t be contained – it bursts out and enters your mind – this piece of the installation rests at an angle on the floor against the wall. Dimensions: 25in x 23in x 11in Media: wood, metal, paintArtist: Wells Mason Title:Umasi Sculpture (‘Spine’) Description: This is ‘Spine’ from The Umasi Collection. This is one of three pieces that are part of this installation. Since this installation suggests that art can’t be contained – it bursts out and enters your mind – this piece of the installation rests on the floor. Dimensions: 25in x 23in x 11in Media: wood, metal, paintArtist: Christopher McNulty Title:Thirty Pieces (Exhuming Charles Kettering) Description: This sculpture of 30 lead teeth commemorates the mark left on our blood and bones by Charles Kettering and other executives at GM during the 60-year period in which tetra-ethyl lead was added to gasoline. Dimensions: 8.5″ x 6.5″ x 6.5″ Media: Lead, plexiglas, wood Year: 2012Artist: Steve Murphy Title:Remembers Everything Description: free standing sculpture. Dimensions: 22in x 32in x 18in Media: oxidized steel Year: 2016
Artist: Joseph Ovalle Title: Talk To Your State Representative Description: This piece references local society. It questions acts of violence, as a mean to influence a change. Dimensions: 96in x 48in x 6in Media: wood Year: 2019
Artist: Christyn Overstake Title:#73. 41.6764 N, 86.2520 W. Cherry. Description: Small iron sphere with fabricated components. Dimensions: 6in x 6in x 4in Media: Cast Iron, Silicon Bronze, Steel Year: 2019
Artist: Christyn Overstake Title: #66. 39.0834 N, 86.7561 W. Lady D. Description: Iron column with fabricated steel and bronze elements. Dimensions: 30in x 18in x 6in Media: Cast Iron, Bronze, Steel Year: 2018
Artist: Bill Raney Title:The Legend of Johnny Onetoebro Description: Contemplative Vessel Dimensions: 17in x 7in x 7in Media: 3D printed plastic (PLA) and wood fired stoneware Year: 2020
Artist: Bill Raney Title:Dusty Too Description: Contemplative Vessel Dimensions: 9in x 6in x 5in Media: Steel, cast bronze, cast iron and wood fired b-mix Year: 2019
Artist: Greg Reuter Title:Black and Blue Description: One country map hanging, one country map on floor Dimensions: 84in x 96in x 7in Media: Cast Iron and School Map Year: 2015Artist: Kristen Tordella-Williams Description: Burnt reference book pages embedded in cotton paper Dimensions: 10′ x 8′ x 16″ Media: Artist made cotton paper, burnt book pages, wood, clothespins Year: 2018
Artist: James Wade Title:Incoming! Description: Laser drawing on powder coated cast iron from digital drawing Dimensions: 18 x 10.5 x 0.75 Material: cast iron, powder coat Year: 2018
BFA Thesis Exhibition – online May 4 – May 17, 2020 Celebrate the culmination of these graduating seniors! Victoria Morales, Nichole Schiller, Elizabeth Smith, and Caroline Wilson
This exhibition was scheduled to be on display at the TAMU-CC Islander Art Gallery. Unfortunately, the BFA Exhibitions will not be opened to the public as Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi is complying with the Stay at Home Emergency Declaration issued by the City of Corpus Christi.
Continuing to work remotely, the seniors adjusted their exhibitions and have made their exhibitions available to audiences digitally.
To visit the online shows, check out in the links below:
Exhibition Dates: March 30-July 1, 2020 Due to COVID-19 protocols and university guidelines, this exhibition was installed in the Weil Gallery but was not open to the public. It is available online below.
Special Thanks to all the faculty and academic institutions who TAPPED recent students and these specific artworks to be included in this exhibition.
Austin Community College – Jill Bedgood Baba Yaga, Kaylixan McAuley Sodom, Paul Schuster Interconnected, Sienna Stolte
Houston Community College – Jessica F. Kreutter Los Diablos de Teloloapan, Bryan Lagunas An Empty Seat and Lost Traditions, Mellany Medina I’m Not Allowed To, Yolanda Osagie You Want Some Drugs?, Janell Pesquera
Del Mar College – Amorette V. Garza Sweet Tooth, Rianna Kirkham Succulent, Rianna Kirkham Masterstudy of Cellini’s Head of Medusa, Kyana Gallaher Mastersudy of Chinard’s Jeanne de L’Orrne de L’Isle, Victoria Gibbons
Texas A&M University – Commerce – Josephine Durkin Lib, Jane Cornish Smith Hive, Jareth Arcane Modified, Katie H. Ritche TBA, David Namaksy
Texas State University – Jennifer Ling Datchuk Serpent, God of Wind (Serpiente, Dios Del Viento), Joel Nieto Everyday Joys, Theresa Sawczyn Lucy, Karly Schlievert I am Broken Down Again , Hentan Stevenson
University of North Texas – Liss Lafluer Sirens of Memory, Sean Lopez Ni la Vida, Ni la Muerte, Diana Rojas-Ponce Broken and Bruised #2, Stephanie Gerhart
University of Texas at San Antonio – Buster Graybill Lineage, Omar Gonzales Santa Sebastiana, Gabi Magaly Nocturnal Observation #1, Chris Moncivias 22 ways to wear a belt, Eric Ryberg
Nocturnal Observation #1, Chris Moncivias
Victoria College – Debra Chronister Holy Nature, Erica Estrada Windows of Perception, Renee Raven Crocheted Fossils, Renee Raven Pent, Ben Sartor POP Art, Ben Sartor, Natalie Brown, and Design II students
Work in Progress is an exhibition of work by current graduate students enrolled in the TAMUCC MFA Studio Art program. The exhibition will display work in progress across a range of disciplines spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and installation by MFA candidates Maclovio Cantu IV, Clarissa Gonzalez, Payton Koranek, Laura Monahan, Robert Neal, Jacqueline Negreros, Emmanuel Sanchez, Jamie Speck, and Carlos Israel Villarreal.
Exhibition Dates: February 6 – February 21 Opening Reception: Thursday, February 6, 6:00 – 8:00pm
The Islander Gallery at TAMU-CC is pleased to welcome Kitchen Talk, an exhibition of works by Virginia-based artist Steve Prince. The exhibition will feature two-dimensional works based in drawing and printmaking. As a native of New Orleans, LA, Prince ‘s work highlights his interests in art, music, and religion, and addresses issues of social injustice through a metaphorical language of faith, hope, and creativity.
Please join us for the public artist’s lecture an opening reception Friday, October 18th, from 6:00-8:00pm, at the Islander Gallery. The Islander Gallery is located at 4024 Weber Rd.
Suzy Gonzáles, Float, 2019Eliseo Casiano, Horse Breaker, Graphite and watercolor pencil on toned paper, 2017
The Weil Gallery at TAMU-CC welcomes Collective Likeness, an exhibition of works by San Antonio artist Suzy González and Tucson-based artist Eliseo Casiano. The exhibition will feature two-dimensional works across a variety of media, addressing a broad spectrum of socio-political subject matter related to cultural identity, race, familial histories, and the hierarchies of materials. The show dates are from Friday, September 27th to Friday, November 27th.
Closing this Friday, October 4th, at TAMU-CC’s Islander Art Gallery is undergraduate show Big Mood. Sponsored by graduate student, Clarissa Gonzalez, Big Mood features artwork created by TAMU-CC’s undergraduate art students and stands as an expression of life experiences and what it means to be a contemporary artist.
