Free and open to the public

Martina Shenal: Borrowed Views

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Lecture: 5:30-6:30pm UTC Fine Arts Center room 356

Opening Reception: 6:30-8:30pm Apothecary

The photographs in this exhibition are loosely based on the Japanese: shakkei, (borrowed views, borrowed scenery) that refers to a 17th c. garden concept/element. All about foreign views...it has since been co-opted as a framing mechanism for the top gardens in Japan, where a literal (usually a mountain) in the distance is "framed" into a very particular vantage point and the garden is designed around it. Connected to the picturesque style, it has become a conscious manipulation of nature to create foregrounds, middle grounds + backgrounds to highlight a selection of formal elements.

Martina Shenal is an Assistant Professor of Art in the Photography division at The University of Arizona. She earned her MFA from Arizona State University and a BFA from The Ohio State University. Prior to relocating to Tucson, Shenal was an Assistant Professor of Art at the Memphis College of Art from 1998-2004. Since 2005, she has also served as the Assistant Director of the School of Art.

Shenal has received numerous grants and fellowships including two Professional Development Grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, a Visual Art Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission, a Western States Art Federation/National Endowment for the Arts Regional Fellowship in New Genres, and a Contemporary Forum Artist's Materials Grant from the Phoenix Art Museum. Solo and two-person exhibitions of her work have been held at the UC Berkeley Extension Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Phoenix Center for Contemporary Art, Phoenix, AZ; Second Floor Contemporary, Memphis, TN; Arizona State University Art Museum, Matthews Center; Tower Fine Art Gallery SUNY-Brockport, NY; and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work is included in the permanent collections of New Mexico State University Art Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Center for Creative Photography, among others.

For more info:

http://www.apothecaryproject.com

http://www.martinashenal.com

Apothecary is located in the Doctor's Building at the corner of McCallie and Palmetto.

email: phillip-lewis@utc.edu

Image: Untitled (Florence), 2011