Welcome to UCA's new events blog!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

NEWS: V. Kim Martinez Exhibition at Finch Lane Gallery

ARTIST V. KIM MARTINEZ EXPLORES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL BORDERS AT FINCH LANE GALLERY

Salt Lake City—V. Kim Martinez’s Matthew Allred’s work is paired with two other exhibitions at the Finch Lane Gallery that explore the themes of boundaries, time, and choices. The exhibitions run October 4 through November 15, with an artists’ reception on Friday, October 4 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

V. Kim Martinez’s multi-disciplinary installation, 7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back, is based on her experiences traveling routes used by Mexican/Native American migrants for thousands of years along the now United States and Mexican borders.  She will discuss her work on the “Day of the Dead” Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m.

Martinez’s Exhibition, 7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back, includes paintings, drawings and an animated five-minute video, in response to what she witnessed while traversing the southwestern border.  Her motivation in developing this series was to increase understanding of political and social discourse of the region.  The images are not literal but rather intellectual concepts and metaphors.

Traveling within the margins of this rigid yet fluid space allowed her to perceive the border in myriad ways.  “Movement becomes a metaphor for communication--the transfer of meaning from one place to another, isolating pieces of information, repeating, changing scale, and reducing color is my attempt to reveal hidden structures and motivations of migration,” Martinez said.
When a person dies, some indigenous peoples of North America practice a ritual called “7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back.”  For seven days, four times a day, survivors pay homage to the deceased by visiting and marking their burial site with seven lines.  They then walk forward seven steps to the site and, when leaving, walk backward seven steps.  This practice assures that the dead will have safe entry into the afterlife.

Martinez has exhibited in the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China; at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Valdivia, Chile; the SPARC Gallery in Venice California; the Noyes Cultural Art Center, Chicago, Illinois; and at the Al-Kahf Gallery in Bethlehem, Palestine.  She is a faculty member of the University of Utah Department of Art and Art History.

Who:               V. Kim Martinez
What:              Finch Lane and Park Gallery Exhibitions
When:             October 4 through November 15, 2013
Where:           Art Barn, 54 Finch Lane in Reservoir Park

Finch Lane Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with additional evening hours during the Gallery Strolls on October 18 and November 15, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. All events are free of charge. For additional information, contact the Salt Lake City Arts Council, 801.596.5000 or visit www.slcgov.com/arts.

No comments:

Post a Comment