The Spiral Jetty is a large earthwork art piece which was built in the shallow, pink waters of the Great Salt Lake in 1970 by artist Robert Smithson. The 1500-foot-long spiral was submerged for decades by highwater levels, but it has recently returned to the surface, and is now at the leading edge of a controversial drilling proposal currently under consideration by the State of Utah’s Governor’s Office Resource Development Coordinating Committee…… (See more of this article at)

www.nowpublic.com
http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/080212smithson.asp
http://www.spiraljetty.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18mon3.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Spiral+Jetty&st=nyt&oref=slogin
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/254746/17/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/oil_drilling_spiral_jetty.php
 http://bradbirchettart.blogspot.com/2008/02/oil-vs-art.html

Hilary Wilder, Assistant Professor in the Department of Painting and Printmaking, exhibits her latest work Nearer to Thee at Open Satellite, in Bellevue, Washington. The exhibit runs from February 21–April 5, 2008 and was curated by Marisa C. Sánchez.

Wilder investigates painting as a construction of reality and a structure of knowledge. Through the lens of landscape, which serves as a dynamic metaphor for human experience, Wilder introduces narratives and compositions that are held in tension between fact and fiction, order and disorder, stability and chaos, and the real and ideal. Informed by Romantic landscape painters, including Casper David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner, Wilder’s impressive, large-scale installations attempt to examine the forces of nature and culture. Often depicting explosive and tumultuous scenes, her paintings are supported by a grid painted directly onto the wall, which acts to balance the drama that unfolds in the canvases. This strategy is pursued by the artist in a number of her installations, with certain motifs recurring in her work, such as her use of bold, geometric patterning that references 1970s aesthetics.

For her residency at Open Satellite, Wilder has created an ambitious painting installation that is site-specific in her consideration of the space of the gallery, which provides a structural framework for her dramatic canvases. In the context of the Pacific Northwest, Wilder’s thematic concerns offer a contemporary dialogue about landscapes and identity as well as a critique of place, history, and the environment.

Hilary Wilder received her MA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2000 and 2001. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2006-2007 and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant for 2007-2008. Recent exhibits include Courting Disaster at the Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta; There Goes the Neighborhood, sixspace, Los Angeles; and New Texas Painting, Diverseworks, Houston. She works in painting, installations, and videos, and she is also a writer of art criticism.

VCU Dance NEXUS presents Master Class for Community Dancers with guest artist Daniel Gwirtzman Monday, February 25, 6:30 pm.

Hosted by the Richmond Ballet
407 East Canal Street
Richmond, VA
$5 tickets on sale in the lobby at 5:30 pm.
First come, first served.

Dancer/choreographer/teacher Daniel Gwirtzman directs the New York based Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, known for its innovative partnering, sophisticated musicality and entertaining accessibility. His high-energy technique class reflects the Company’s diverse repertory, and his eclectic training, fusing the movement vocabularies of folk, ballet and modern dance. The class, athletic and rigorous, will explore Daniel’s trademark blend of pedestrianism and virtuosity through the following concepts: suspension, leaning, and falling; unexpected shifts of weight, changes of direction and extreme speed. To learn more about the Company, please visit: www.gwirtzmandance.org

For more information, contact
Lea Marshall
804-828-1711
lemarshall@vcu.edu
www.vcu.edu/arts/dance

Whitney Lynn, MFA Alumna 2004 from the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media, will be exhibiting at two group exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area from February–March.

“SHAPE”
Lobot Gallery, 1800 Campbell Street, Oakland CA
February 22nd – March 16th 2008
Opening: Friday February 22, 6-10PM
HOURS: 1-6, Saturdays and Sundays
 www.lobotgallery.com

Shape is a group exhibition of artist from the United States and Canada which addresses some of the influences that help define perceptions of the world. The artist use common materials and tools while reflection upon notions of visual information being pictorial codes understood by their culturally determined language. This has resulted in unique forms and presentations that blur the spaces between the domestic, the urban, the industrial, and the political. The works in Shape explore elements from the built environment helping to form human perception.
participating artists: Ben Baumgartner, Patrick Blaeser, Ross Campbell, Matt Cella, Gibson Cuyler, Alan Disparte, Gary Warren Hubbs, Stephen M. King, Whitney Lynn, Marshall Marcie, Renetta Sitoy.

“The Sky is Falling”
SPUR Projects, 888 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA
Opening: February 28th, 6-8PM
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11:00am - 6:00pm and by appointment.
 www.spurprojects.com

The Sky is Falling, a show about disasters of all kinds, will open at SPUR Projects on February 28th from 6 – 8 PM. This show features artists; Robert Buelteman, David Ivan Clark, Decatur Blue (Brian Balderston, Ryan Hackett, Gabriel Martinez, Jose Ruiz, Stoff Smulson, Champ Taylor), Jessalyn Haggenjos, Melissa Hutton, Jeremiah Jenkins, Whitney Lynn, Michelle Mansour, Nadim Sabella and Daniel McGlynn, Sonja Thomsen, and with a performance by Sarah Filley.

& Alum Exhibit at Randolph-Macon College Flippo Gallery" />

The Flippo Gallery at Randolph-Macon College will exhibit the work of twenty-seven artists whose work utilizes themes and imagery surrounding animals and nature.

The exhibition showcases works in a variety of media by Maja Bality, Ann Chenoweth, Bobbi Corker, Shawn Creeden, David Freed, Janet Gilmore-Bryan, Kathryn Henry-Choisser, Mary Holland, Kate Horne, Dawn Latane, Kathryn Leonard, Matt Lively, Ryan McLennan, Karen Morgan, Eric Norbom, Chris Norris, Rosemarie Padovano, Chris Palmer, Sally Russell, Virginia Samsel, Diego Sanchez, Pam Shelor, Gordon Stettinius, Georgianne Stinnett, Barbara Tisserat, Kathleen Westkaemper, and Aggie Zed.

“The Animal Exhibition” will take place March 2 - April 17, 2008. An opening reception will be given in honor of the artists from 2-5 pm on March 2. The opening is concurrent with the Bach Festival: Richmond Symphony Orchestra performance beginning at 3pm in Blackwell Auditorium. Gallery hours are 10-4 pm Monday through Friday and by appointment. The Flippo Gallery is located in Pace-Armistead Hall. Directions to Pace-Armistead Hall are available at www.rmc.edu. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Inquiries may be directed to Katie Shaw Sweeney at 804-752-3018 or kshaw@rmc.edu.

Lily Cox-Richard [current MFA grad student department of Sculpture + Extended Media] vs Nadja Ziller
Kompact Living Space
Lychener Str. 12
Saturday, February 23 at 7pm
Berlin, Germany

Annual design conference at VCU School of the Arts in Qatar
“Design at the Crossroads”
with keynote speaker Twyla Tharp
March 3–6, 2008
 tasmeem.qatar.vcu.edu

Change and future of design at the crossroads

The Peninsula

DOHA Renowned American choreographer Twyla Tharp, Mohammed Harib, creator of Freej, Middle East’s first three-dimensional animated series, and Sheikh Majed Al Sabah, luxury fashion retailer from Kuwait are among the speakers lined up for the fifth annual design conference Tasmeem Doha 2008 being held here next month.

The international conference will take place at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUQ) from March 3 to 6. Organised jointly by VCUQ and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the conference is titled ‘Design at the Cross Roads: The Intersection of Change and the Future.’

Twyla Tharp, who has choreographed five Hollywood films and more than 135 dances will be the key-note speaker at the conference. Other speakers include DeeDee Gordon, noted youth and culture expert, designers Sonia Ashour, Irma Boom, Bernard Khoury, Sadik Karamustafa, critic and journalist Karrie Jacobs and writer Stephen Benham.

This year’s theme will address the changing trends in design in the context of the Gulf environment where ‘Bedouin traditions merge with modernity and East and West converge in multicultural cities’

‘Last year, we instituted a pre-conference workshop for students, led by conference presenters, to address design problems in Qatar. This year there will be six groups of students, from universities in Education City and worldwide, working with design professionals and conference speakers to address the issue of navigation and ‘way finding’ in Qatar.

The topic applies not only to finding one’s way around town but also to the culture and history of this rapidly changing country. Each day during the conference two of the groups will give a 20-minute presentation on the outcomes of their workshops.’ said Nancy Fawley, Committee Chair, Tasmeem Doha 2008.

Tasmeem Doha 2008 will feature 13 international designers, breakout sessions, design exhibitions and panel discussions. Participants will include practitioners, design professors and students from academic institutions and facilities throughout the world.

‘The conference gives us the opportunity to strengthen our partnership with Qatar Foundation and VCUQ. For five years we have gathered scholars and practitioners in the fields of graphic, interior and fashion design to discuss current issues in design while engaging with our students and community members. We are most grateful to our sponsors for their continuing support in this great endeavor.’ said Abdul Aziz Al Sulati, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

‘We are very excited about the line up of speakers we have this year at Tasmeem. It is our aim to not only bring international world class designers to Doha but also to highlight regional designers who are making an impact on the international design scene,’ said Donna Duffett, VCUQ Events Project Manager.

The School of the Arts Department of Music presents the Faculty Jazz recital of Antonio J. Garcia Trombone, Vocals, Percussion, Piano, Composition/Arranging. Sunday, February 17, 4pm Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall W.E. Singleton Performing Arts Center, 922 Park Ave.

“Open-Ended,” a Festival of Time-Based Media will take place on Thursday to Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, at 7p.m. at VCU’s Solvent Space, located at 4th and Hull Streets, next to the Plant Zero Arts Center. Thursday and Friday nights will feature video work by 24 international artists addressing issues of identity, cultural hybridity, and new cosmopolitanism, including work by Sonali Gulati, Grace Ndiritu, Steve Reinke, Shelly Silver, John Smith, and Ryan Trecartin. Saturday night will present a screening of “Operation Atropos” by Coco Fusco, followed by an open discussion with the artist.

This event is free to the public. For more information go to www.artandhybridity.com

“Open-Ended” was curated by Jeremy Drummond, Assistant Professor of Studio Art, Department of Art and Art History, and N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Deputy Director and Curator of Exhibitions, University Museums, University of Richmond.

The Page Bond Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of print media by Kris Iden, Tanja Softic´, Will Berry, Chris Palmer and Randy Toy, in conjunction with the 2008 Southern Graphics Council Conference hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Department of Painting and Printmaking & the Center for Digital Print Media in addition to the 2008 Harnett Biennial of American Prints, Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond Museums .

INKED opens at the Page Bond Gallery, 1625 West Main Street, on Friday, March 7 with a reception from 7 to 9 PM and will be on view through April 1, 2008.