Armin Mühsam & Andrew Havenhand
November 23rd to December 11th.
Mühsam’s exhibit, “Clear New Worlds,” are paintings that are contemporary and provocative interpretations of landscape and are juxtaposed to the traditions of the genre. Mühsam, an internationally recognized painter, has exhibited his compelling narrative landscapes in Germany, Romania, Netherlands, and throughout the United States.
Havenhand’s exhibit “Recent Paintings,” predominantly exhibiting on the East Coast and Great Britain, presents artwork that questions the curious dialogue between fine art and craft.
Tom Scicluna
October 12th to October 23rd
Scicluna was born in London. He received a BA in Contemporary Art Practice at the University of Northumbria then later moved to Miami, Fla., where he received his MFA in Sculpture at the University of Miami, Coral Gables where he still lives and works.
For his pieces, he finds functional objects and turns them into art, arranging them in simplistic ways that are different from their original form.
Jonathan Brilliant
Construction Began August 18th
Installation on Display September 11th to the 25th
"In my version the natural environment is the coffee shop and my materials are the to-go coffee cup and all it accoutrements. The resulting work is both ironic and labor intensive with a traditional craft based sensibility” are the words of Jonathan Brilliant, the artist behind the show at the Lightwell Gallery in the Fred Jones Art Center, the Goldsworthy of the Coffee Shop series.
Jonathan Brilliant
Goldsworthy of the Coffee Shop
Columbia, SC
The School of Art & Art History invited Jonathan Brilliant for LIGHTWELL PROJECTS 2009-2010.
Mr. Brilliant received his MFA from San Jose State University in 2007 and has completed a number of installations across the country. The winner of the Bridge Art Fair Miami / myartspace.com Emerging Artist Award, Mr. Brilliant has also completed residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Ox-Bow and the Redux Contemporary Art Center. He is also a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship.
For the Goldsworthy of the coffee shop project I assume the role of a British artist who gathers materials in his natural environment and uses them to execute a site-specific installation. In my version the natural environment is the coffee shop, and my materials are found within this environment. The resulting work is both ironic and labor intensive with a traditional craft based sensibility. In the past, I was an artist in residence at The ox-bow school of art, The Sumter County Accessibility program, The Redux Contemporary Art Center, S.C. State University and the Vermont Studio center. In all of these residencies I explored my relationship with my adopted natural environment of the coffee
shop. In this ongoing series of work I explore my sense that the coffee shop and related consumer environs are more organic and nurturing than the real natural environment. To reflect this belief I create labor intensive organic installations using the simple coffee stirrer and a tensile strength weaving technique.
For the Lightwell Gallery at the University of Oklahoma, I am proposing a
continuation of this project. The time and support provided will allow for development of an entirely new site responsive work centered around the unique features and architecture of the gallery. While in residence at the Lightwell Gallery I will endeavor to create a dynamic and engaging installation reflecting my interest in the effects of labor, performance, and materials applied to an exhibition space. In past residencies and installation projects I have made my working process transparent by creating my woven
tensile installations entirely in situ. These delicate but monumental installations provide a visceral experience for the audience, often engaging new audiences that normally would not consider contemporary art to their liking. The creation of this work entirely in situ is grounded in my belief that the gallery space is in direct conflict to the space where art is normally created and conceived. In order to dissolve these boundaries I try whenever possible to create my work in the place where it will be exhibited. This act ensures that the audience will experience my work in it’s purest form while still existing within the confines of the white cube.
