Press Release: Moving Visuals
September 13, 2018
David C. Driskell Center to Present The Exhibition Moving Visuals
COLLEGE PARK, MD. — The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland is proud to announce its fall 2018 exhibition, Moving Visuals. The exhibition focuses on video art by selected African American artists. The exhibition will be on display at the Driskell Center from Thursday, September 13th, 2018 through Friday, November 16th, 2018, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 13th from 5-7PM.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Moving Visuals focuses on a handful of contemporary African American artists who frequently and critically explore history, social issues, and popular culture in their works, including Sanford Biggers, Stephanie Dinkins, Lyle Ashton Harris, Clifford Owens, Jefferson Pinder, Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, and Hank Willis Thomas. The exhibition is curated by Dorit Yaron, the Driskell Center’s Deputy Director, and it focuses on artists engaged with time-based media. It is especially curated as a departure point for educating and encouraging students to engage in a dialogue about timely issues of past, present, and future histories. This is the first time the David C. Driskell Center has presented an exhibition focuses exclusively on time-based media. The exhibition includes nearly a dozen works, all of which were created in the last five years. These highly contemporary works cover a range of issues from immigration to artificial intelligence and more. The exhibition is unified by its engagement with time-based media as a way to challenge and engage audiences to experience art in new ways. Furthermore, some of these artists have never been seen at the Driskell Center before, and the Center’s audience will get to experience contemporary African American artists’ diverse engagements with time-based media.
The curator, Dorit Yaron, explained that it is one of her goals to present video works as an artistic medium by selected artists at the Driskell Center. She adds: “Video has developed as a form of narrative art; each work tells a specific and unique story. To engage in the story, it requires the visitor to practice patience and pay attention to the many small details which often tells a big story. The focus is on the moving images which tell one narrative. My hope is that this medium will encourage students and faculty to view the works in the exhibition and address the topic the works present in their classes.” During the opening event, Vanessa Jagodinsky, an emerging artist who graduated with an MFA from the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University in Atlanta in May 2018, will perform a Durational Performance, Consume; this performance will contain nudity. Fitting with the theme of the exhibition, Jagodinsky’s performance explores her identity as well as social and racial issues she faces daily, mainly concepts within her own sense of displaced identity. She often challenges herself and others by creating works that provoke an uncomfortable, yet gratifying sensation. Her use of performance and sculpture create physical experiences and nurture an exchange of energies. Additionally, in conjunction with the exhibition, the Driskell Center will present an artist panel discussion with local artists from diverse backgrounds. The event is held on Thursday, October 4th,
2018, from 5-7PM. The event is open to the public. Please check our website for updates regarding our panel discussion invitees.
ABOUT THE DAVID C. DRISKELL CENTER
The David C. Driskell Center honors the legacy of David C. Driskell—a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Art, Artist, Art Historian, Collector, Curator, and Philanthropist—by preserving the rich heritage of African American visual art and culture. The Driskell Center is committed to preserving, documenting, and presenting African American art, as well as replenishing and expanding the field of African American art. All programs at the David C. Driskell Center are free and open to the public. The facility is wheelchair accessible. For further information regarding exhibitions and activities at the Driskell Center, please call 301.314.2615 or visit www.driskellcenter.umd.edu. The Driskell Center’s programing is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and private donors.