Past Exhibits
April 19th, 2008 through May 9th
Third-Ever UC Merced Family Art Exhibition
Kolligian East, Floors 1 - 4
 Maira Pulido |
Enjoy the talents of UC Merced through the artistic offerings of students, faculty, staff and their families. This exhibition features over 70 works that range from mixed media and paintings to photography and drawings. A special section highlights select crafts including paper arts, woodworking and jewelry arts.
April 21st, 2008 through May 12th
The Effecting Eye: Signs of Our Time
Kolligian East, Floors 1, 2 & 4
This exhibition draws from the portfolios of students in History and Practice of Photography, an upper-division course, taught by Professor ShiPu Wang, now housed under the Global Arts Studies Program (GASP 141 for Spring 2009). Students were asked to incorporate their knowledge of photography history and photographically interpret their chosen topics that fall under the larger theme, “Signs of Our Time.” Here is only a small sample of their work. To see individual portfolios and other creative assignments, please visit http://theeffectingeye.smugmug.com
March 19, 2008 through May 30, 2008
The Best of the Merced Camera Club
Kolligian East, Floor 2
 Karen Campbell |
View over fifty works representing the best of Merced’s photographers. Subjects include wildlife and fauna from the Yosemite Valley, the California ghost town of Bodie, rural Mexico and Guatemala, as well as the variety of landscapes surrounding UC Merced.
For more information about the club, call Lloyd Hall at 209.722.6327.
January 28, 2008 through March 7, 2008
liberARTE
Kolligian East, Floor 2
Professor Robin DeLugan, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, and the Kolligian Library proudly present "liberARTE," featuring recent artwork by Chicano artist and poet Xico González. The politically charged serigraphies on exhibit were produced while González was an MFA candidate at the University of California, Davis (2005-2007). González currently teaches in the Chicana/o Studies Program at Sacramento State University.
On February 2nd, 2008, González will be facilitating a workshop on liberARTE at the National Association of Chicana & Chicano Studies (NACCS) Regional Foco Conference being held at UC Merced. An artist lecture and a noche de cultura will be held at the end of February.
December 2007 through March 2008
The Cold War
Kolligian East, Floor 3
The Cold War is a multimedia exhibit featuring items from both the personal collection of UC Merced Founding Faculty member Gregg Herken and Castle Air Museum. Of special note are a gunner and ejection seat from a B-52 Bomber, along with what were once classified as top secret documents from the CIA. Highlighting the past military rivalry between the United States and Russia, the exhibit contrasts Cold War era uniform articles and emblems from the Strategic Air Command with those of the Soviet Military. Digital media includes a six minute film that documents key chronological events of this almost 50 year period.
Fall 2007
Title: Living Under the Trees
Featuring photographs by David Bacon, this photography and oral history project documents Mexican indigenous farm worker communities in rural California and scattered on the edges of cities from San Diego to Santa Rosa. Viewers learn more about the lives of indigenous people from Oaxaca who work in our fields and call California home. Despite often harsh working and living conditions, their dignity, determination, and rich culture is apparent in these photographs. Portrayed are the difficult working conditions, the acute housing crisis in indigenous communities, and efforts to preserve and develop indigenous culture as a means of survival and self-expression.
Spring 2007
Antarctica
Explorer Series, volume 1
Pat and Rosemarie Keough
This international award-winning book of photography encompasses landscapes, seascapes, ice, snow, wildlife, "the hand of man, " abstracts and realism. All told, the Keoughs spent 24 months exploring and photographing the Antarctic from the windswept polar plateau of the interior to the majestic, mountainous coast, and from the multitude of off-lying islands to the icy seas and surrounding stormy Southern Ocean.
Antarctica is a work of craftsmanship as much as a dedication to a cause: all net proceeds from the book are given to the Save the Albatross campaign of BirdLife International.
On loan to UC Merced Library from Jim and Carlene Cunningham.
Artful Produce: Label Art of California's Growers
Kolligian East Floor 2
UC Merced Library's newest exhibit opens on April 4th. The exhibit presents fruit and vegetable crate labels from the turn of the century through the 1960s, and is part of the personal collection of UC Merced's own Steve Garz. Originally from Santa Clara County, Steve formed an interest in collecting fruit crate labels while working in orchards when he was in high school. This interest has resulted in a varied and rare collection of evocative images that help document the development of commercial advertising art in the early 20th century as well as the changing cultural landscape of the California agricultural industry. The exhibit is curated by Emily Lin and Mary Weppler-Selear, and runs until May 30.
November 2006 through February 2007
Frank Cameron: Metal as Art
Kolligian East Floors 1, 2 & 3
Frank Cameron has been creating and exhibiting metal art for over 30 years. A self-taught artist, Mr. Cameron began experimenting with used welding equipment in his garage, and has since created hundreds of custom and pre-designed sculptures.
"I try to take advantage of the natural colors of different metals. Applying heat to the metal brings out the various colors present in the artwork. Another method of creating color is to apply acid patinas. Texture is accomplished through sanding, grinding, and hammering. Grinding can produce a prism effect giving off a rainbow of colors."
With a particular focus on animal iconography and landscapes, the sculptures' elegant, often open structures incorporate the light and space of their environment. As the light changes, so does the metal, suggesting both movement and warmth, qualities not often associated with this material.
Mr. Cameron has exhibited throughout the Central Valley, and some of his pieces are on permanent display at Sutter Hospital and the City Hall in Tracy. His work can also be seen at Gallery M in Half Moon Bay. He teaches classes in basic welding, with an emphasis on metal art, at Tracy Adult School.
July through November 2006
Daruma seven and eleven
Kolligian East Floors 2, 3
"Ghostly." "Monolithic." "Waiting to hatch." These are a few of the reactions that Nathan Suter's sculptural pieces have evoked in passersby. According to Suter, "I think of Daruma seven and eleven as game pieces that are larger than we—the players—are. Their size and texture resist our grasp. They obstruct our vision and our movement, dampen sound, and are difficult to move singlehandedly. Similar to the mathematics I used to design these pieces, they are man-made attempts to describe what is beyond human scale."
By the way, the story of Daruma, the Japanese deity, and the Daruma doll figured into the first UC Merced Commencement. Is there any connection between Suter's sculptures and the Daruma doll? You, the visitor, are invited to decide.
May 8 through August 31, 2006
David Johnson Photography: Images Past & Present
Kolligian East Floor 2
The photography of David Johnson spans half a century and captures the lives of prominent African American musicians, artists, and leaders; the Civil Rights Movement; the black church; as well as life on the street. A student in Ansel Adams's first photography class, Johnson continues to document change in his environment as a local resident of Atwater, CA. The last portion of the exhibit depicts new development in the Central Valley.