University Art Museum hosts live, virtual MFA, BFA thesis exhibitions; timed tickets available

The New Mexico State University Art Museum (UAM) will host “Syn-2021 Thesis Exhibition,” featuring the work of MFA candidates Ger Xiong and Cierra Redding, Friday, April 23-Saturday, May 15.

Also April 23-May 15, UAM will host “Dispositions,” featuring work by bachelor of fine arts candidates Jesus Del Rio, Jiyong Kim and Blanca Martinez.

Virtual and live opening receptions will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 23. The receptions are free and open to the public.

UAM is located in Devasthali Hall, 1308 E. University Ave. The museum is regularly open noon-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

Visit UAM’s timed-ticket website at https://uam.nmsu.edu/

 to register for free tickets to attend current exhibitions at https://uam.nmsu.edu/timed-tickets/.

All visitors must sign up for timed entry. Based on public health orders, 10 visitors are allowed into the museum at one time in half-hour increments. Visitors must enter the museum on the northeast side of Devasthali Hall and wait on the outside patio until their scheduled visit time. All staff and visitors, except for children ages two and under, are required to wear masks while visiting the museum. Visitors must practice social distancing and must wash or sanitize their hands before and during each visit. Sanitizing stations are available throughout the museum wing.

The MFA exhibition “looks at how each artist navigates their identities differently through the use of materiality, form and objects, UAM said in a news release. “Within the exhibition space, viewers are confronted with histories of loss and absence.”

“Between them exists an engaging discourse, which feels timely and timeless,” said NMSU Art Department assistant professor Joshua Clark. “Both artists are wrestling with one of the oldest human conundrums: how to conserve the worthy aspects of our past, both collectively and personally.”

“Xiong’s work depicts the navigation and negotiation of his cultural identity of being Hmong American,” UAM said. “Through the lenses of assimilation, migration, colonization, commodification and resilience of being Hmong, his finely crafted textiles and wearable objects are visual narratives, telling stories of his and his family’s migration. As (part of a) stateless people within dominant spaces, his work becomes a tool of documentation and storytelling to preserve his identity, history and culture, connecting stories of our past to the present.”

“Born with a rare eye condition called Nystagmus, Redding explores her surroundings through touch,” the news release said. “In this body of work, Redding focuses on lost interactions in a world of human separation and social isolation. To deal with her own isolation, Redding was inspired by a quote from family therapist Virginia Satir that prescribes a regimen of eight daily hugs to maintain emotional well-being. In search of a remedy, Redding followed this guidance by sculpting eight ‘hug’ impressions to document and display the loss she has endured, while paradoxically giving herself the opportunity to experience the feeling of physical touch.”

For more information, contact UAM Coordinator Jasmine Herrera at 575-646-2545 and artmuseum@nmsu.edu.

Also at UAM:

“Saint Joseph & The Laborers”

UAM opened this exhibition in the newly created Margie and Bobby Rankin Retablo Gallery Feb. 20. In the exhibit, the role of the laborer is looked at through the lens of Mexican retablo imagery.

Retablo-making workshop

UAM hosted its first spring 2021 program in connection with the current exhibition St. Joseph & The Laborers, curated by NMSU graduate student Courtney Uldrich and displayed in UAM’s new Margie and Bobby Rankin Retablo Gallery.

A free retablo-making workshop can be watched https://uam.nmsu.edu/retablomaking/.

 The site also has a list of materials needed for the workshop.

“Sorry for the Mess”

This UAM exhibition featuring the work of artists Justin Favela and Ramiro Gomez, will be held July 29-Nov. 6.

The exhibition originated at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and focuses on labor, childhood memories and life as first-generation Americans in the Southwest. Much of the exhibition will be brought directly from Las Vegas to UAM on loan, but will also include an interactive site-specific piece created by Favela specifically for the UAM exhibition.

Be part of the exhibition by participating in a virtual plant-making workshop with Favela. Follow along at home and drop your finished plant off at the museum. Visit https://uam.nmsu.edu/plantmakingwithjustin/.

“Pasos Ajenos: Social Justice and Inequalities in the Borderlands “

This exhibition will also be held July 29-Nov. 6. It is “a timely exhibit focused on social justice issues impacting the Las Cruces and El Paso Borderlands region,” UAM said. The exhibit will be held in the Bunny Conlon Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery.

Contact UAM at 575-646-2545 and artmuseum@nmsu.edu.