Although Mother Nature painted Buffalo streets a surprising stark white earlier this week, students can catch a glimpse of the approaching warmer weather by visiting the exotic collection of art currently on display at the Center for the Arts.
Artists from near and far have gathered their pieces to make a stunning splash of color light up walls of the UB Art Gallery.
The lower level of the gallery is littered with sculptures by New York-based artist Saya Woolfalk, and paintings created by local artist Ani Hoover. Meanwhile, the upstairs is home to the Masters of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, containing the artwork of Naomi Marine and Kara Newbauer.
Woolfalk's No Place blends painting, printmaking and sculpture with video, animation and performance to create a hybrid culture depicting our potential future.
The inhabitants of No Place are part plant, human and animal. They change colors at different parts of their life cycle to show they are not stable; nor can they be simply defined, according to Woolfalk. The characters remain faceless because Woolfalk likes the idea that anyone can project themselves into the characters, no matter who they are.
"I use my own personal background to potentially think and talk about larger social issues through my artwork, such as race, power, sexuality and gender," Woolfalk said.
The materials Woolfalk chose to use are just as diverse as the techniques applied to create them. Doll heads, plastic food containers, Easter bunny toys and plastic egg cartons are just some of the recycled items that Woolfalk rescued from the trash in the name of art. In this future, recyclable objects will be used as technology.
Woolfalk collaborated with cultural anthropologist Rachel Lears in an attempt to bring an authentic touch to her socially-aware works.
"I tried to create a parallel universe as we exist in time that tries to tell a little bit about ourselves," Woolfalk said.
Hoover's Up Down Around consists of six paintings with a lyrical repetition of circles in various sizes, colors and paint mediums, according to Sandra Q. Firmin, curator of the UB Art Gallery.
Hoover's paintings dangle a daunting 30 feet from the ceiling, a perfect fit for the vertical architectural nature of the Lightwell Gallery. This space challenges artists to work on an unprecedented scale and move their practice in unexpected directions, Firmin explained.
Firmin chose the ensemble of artists based on the way the colors and mediums interacted in the art gallery space.
"I love the way all the exhibitions work well together," Firmin said. "They are linked by colors, materials, and forms... they are a nice antidote to Buffalo's long winter and the current fiscal climate."
Woolfalk's residency will culminate on April 15 at 4 p.m. with a performance collaboratively choreographed with five dancers from UB's Department of Theatre and Dance. The dancers will try to bring Woolfalk's imagined future to life by performing ritual dances that harkens back to modern dance. They will attempt to develop a sophisticated, empathic relationship with the people depicted in No Place.
Woolfalk will conduct a workshop in which the public can embellish T-shirts with a special insignia to be worn at the dance performance on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. The insignia consists of a Japanese inro, African sankofa, and a neoclassical column. These three symbols represent Woolfalk's mixed cultural background.
Firmin hopes to continue this progressive mix of artistic styles by developing a residency program at the gallery.
"Artists would be presented with an empty gallery to use like a laboratory of studio... [where] the public could watch their projects develop," Firmin said. "Because of Saya's work with dancers and communities I thought she would be a perfect fit."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
