Farrah Karapetian

The exhibitions at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art this semester pull together an impressive lineup of artists from around the country working in a variety of mediums. The shows address issues that range from abstract concepts of time, perspective and form to contemporary social issues of gender, identity and the effects of mass media.

Two rounds of opening receptions will be held in September and October, providing an opportunity for artists and viewers to mingle over light refreshments. To supplement the exhibitions, gallery talks and tours will be lead by artists and curators. For more information, visit the website or call 706-542-1511.

Here's what's coming up this fall:

“Foundations Exhibition,” on view in the Suite & Plaza Gallery through Thursday, Sept. 10: Presented works primarily include drawings and paintings by students enrolled in UGA’s introductory art courses.

“Video 101: 54 Days this Winter 36 Days this Spring for 18 Minutes,” on view in Gallery 101 through Friday, Sept. 11: This video installation deals with topics of perception and the psychological processes of creating meaning through a montage video format. Dani Levanthal of Ohio State University condensed moments from several months of footage into a 16-minute video, creating new layers of connection and meaning through the splicing and juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated shots.

Archive Fever, Room S150 on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2:30 p.m. & Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2:30 p.m.: This is a new event program that will feature brief creative presentations by five students, faculty members and visiting artists. Each presentation will consist of 10–15 slides that inform and inspire the individual’s intellectual and emotional “archive” that drives their creative work.

ART PARTY: An opening reception for new exhibitions will be held Friday, Sept. 18 from 6–8 p.m. 

“Role Models,” on view in the Bridge Gallery from Friday, Sept. 18–Thursday, Oct. 8: This photographic exhibition and durational installation by Chicago-based artist Phaedra Call and Lamar Dodd MFA candidate Miranda Maynard addresses the tendency of mass media to critically focus on women’s clothing, rather than their actions, in the public eye and how this represents the media’s lack of truthful or positive representation of women. The title “Role Models” references two subjects of 1990s public scandal, Monica Lewinsky and Brandi Chastain, whose clothing choices were disproportionally key points throughout media coverage and who were both subjects of interest to the artists in their youths. A gallery talk with Maynard will be held Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 12 p.m.

“Slagfields,” on view in the Plaza & Suite Galleries from Friday, Sept. 18–Thursday, Oct. 8: This show features work by Ohio-based artist Ian Breidenbach and Ry McCullough, an MFA candidate in the Dodd’s Printmaking and Book Arts department. The work will present each artist’s individual conception of the American landscape inspired by various topics including Situationist International texts from the mid-20th Century, American oral folk traditions and geological phenomenon. A gallery talk with McCullough will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m.

“The Figure 8,” on view in Gallery 307 from Friday, Sept. 18–Friday, Nov. 6: This group show consists of drawings, paintings and sculptures by Elizabeth Jaeger (New York), Parker Valentine (Los Angeles) and Amy Pleasant (Birmingham, AL). The theme of the show is the relationship between the figurative and abstract elements of art, namely form and color. A gallery talk with artists will be held Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m., and a tour led by gallery director Katie Geha will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

“Step Twice,” on view in Gallery 101 from Friday, Sept. 18–Friday, Nov. 6: Los Angeles-based artist Farrah Karapetian creates large-scale installations of photograms, created through a process of using light exposure to create silhouette negative space on typically blank, colored backgrounds. Through carefully constructing narratives in the photograms, her work deals with the way memories can be altered over time and how remembering and reenacting past experiences creates new meanings. An artist lecture will be held in Room S151 on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. 

An opening reception for the following two exhibitions will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 5–7 p.m.:

“Forms of Adornment: Flesh and the Erotic,” on view in the Plaza Gallery & Bridge Galleries through Thursday, Nov. 5: This group show is comprised primarily of jewelry and metalwork that explores how embellishing the body relates to gender, identity and the physical and emotional experiences of intimacy and desire. Curated by Jewelry and Metals MFA candidate Vivienne Varay, the show features the work of Leslie D. Boyd, Sarah Holden, Heidi Jensen, Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro, Jina Seo, Olivia Shih, Lily Smith, Mallory Weston and Varay. A gallery talk with Varay will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 12 p.m. 

“Unsung Muses,” on view in the Suite Gallery through Thursday, Nov. 5: Undergraduate ceramics student Alex Hodge’s work approaches the issue of the contemporary idealization of “classic” femininity by referencing Greek vase painting and the ancient ideals of perfection embodied within that medium. The show is comprised of a series of handmade pots decorated with heroizing scenes of females whose bodies don’t fit the typical paradigm of feminine beauty in contemporary society or in the artistic rendering of females throughout the history of art.