FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jamie Rager, College of Fine Arts (850) 645-2706; jamie.rager@fsu.edu
FSU DEPARTMENT OF ART PRESENTS “BODIES IN CONVERSATION,” CURATED BY BENJAMIN BIO AT THE FAB GALLERY
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University Department of Art and FAB Gallery will open an exhibition this October showcasing the work of select FSU MFA Students Curated by 3rd Year MFA Student Benjamin Bio. “Bodies in Conversation” brings together six graduate artists who approach the body in different ways through their work.
Across painting, sculpture, ceramics, abstraction, and other forms, the body takes on different roles and meanings shaped by artists Jasmine Beneby, Benjamin Bio, Libby Couch, Phu Nguyen, Nneka Onwuka, and Ricder Ricardo’s own experiences and interests. By bringing these different approaches together, the exhibition creates a conversation around the body, not as one fixed idea, but as something that can be understood and experienced in many different ways. “Creating the image of black bodies for me, is a chance to reclaim and restore the image and likeness of greatness that in many historical contexts aren’t implied. I’m taking matters into my hands and painting the bigger picture,” 2nd year MFA Student Nneka Onwuka states, regarding her participating work in the show. Fellow 2nd year MFA student Libby Couch reflects on her own approach to depicting the body as follows: “[My] work considers the body as a vessel that can hold, protect, and constrain, while reflecting the ways our physical experiences can alter our understanding of ourselves… [My] work reflects the unsettling experience of inhabiting a body that fails you. Through the transformation of textile into ceramic, softness becomes hardness, flexibility becomes constraint, and a familiar bodily form becomes a foreign object.”
The exhibit will run from October 1 through October 22, with an opening reception on Thursday, October 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
For more information, including a full schedule of events associated with this exhibition, visit the FAB Gallery located in the Fine Arts Building. FAB Gallery shows and programs are always free and open to the public.