Artist and educator Joshua Bienko served as independent juror and awarded ten students for their submissions in the 2015 UTC Department of Art Juried Student Exhibition. He selected 54 works from 151 entries for inclusion.
The exhibition is supported by the contributions of the Friends of The Cress Gallery.
A wide range of media and materials are featured, from charcoal on paper and oil on canvas to mixed media installations and sculpture, digital collage and websites, artist’s books, zines, photographs, and six moving image works.
Best of Show and the Juror’s Choice awards went to Hayley Martin, 3rd year BFA Major. Corinne Atamaniuk, Gabriela Caloca, and Mamie Bivin received First, Second, and Third Place Overall respectively. Award of Merit was presented to Chris Anderson, Buddy Simpson, Brad Braunschweig, and Brooke Craig. Mirel Crumb received the Juror’s Achievement Award.
Eleven students were especially honored with the Juror’s blind selection of both their two entries. They are Chris Anderson, Kim Appledorn, Brad Braunschweig, Gabriela Caloca, Andrew Choice, Brooke Craig, Mirel Crumb, Emma Ensley, Elizabeth Lawrence, Hayley Martin, and Judy Scoggins.
“I went in looking for work that ‘stung,’” Bienko states. “Work can sting in so many ways. I saw video work that stung based on its slow, methodical and purposeful pace. I saw paintings that stung because of their scale and refusal to abide by traditional definitions. I saw drawings that stung precisely because of their ability to abide by traditional definitions!”
Bienko holds a BFA Painting from the State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, and MFA from Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. Bienko’s practice explores the complicated issues of our times, drawing from a diverse range of subject and material such as modern philosophy and aesthetics, the history of art, pop culture and its history, contemporary sports, and rap and hip hop. Bienko’s work has been included in solo and group exhibitions from California to New York, and in Australia and Europe. He has served as a panelist and presenter at institutions across the United States. He also writes about contemporary art and artists and curates exhibitions. Bienko is Assistant Professor of Drawing and Extended Media, School of the Arts and Architecture, University of Tennessee Knoxville. For more information about the juror visit www.joshuabienko.com
The UTC Department of Art Juried Student Exhibition is an annual event in the Cress Gallery of Art open to all students from first to fourth year who are enrolled in the UTC Department of Art’s Foundations, Bachelor of Art, Bachelor of Science Art Education, and Bachelor of Fine Art Professional Programs in Graphic Design, Painting & Drawing, Photo and Media Arts, and Sculpture. All work submitted was created within the Department’s curriculum.
The Cress Gallery is located in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, 752 Vine Street. Gallery hours: 9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. Monday – Friday and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Ruth Grover, Director and Curator, Cress Gallery and Collections, can provide additional assistance. Email ruth-grover@utc.edu or call or text 423/304-9789.
