Distinguished Artist Series: "At Least Interesting: The Making of a Witness"

"At Least Interesting: The Making of a Witness"

Works from the UTRGV Permanent Collection curated by Rylee Henson, PhD

On display: September 1st - November 2nd

Curator Talk and Reception: Thursday September 3rd at 7PM

UTRGV Performing Arts Complex

1201 W University Dr. Edinburg TX

FREE ADMISSION!

Curatorial Statement

On a large sheet of framed paper, beneath a heavy and indiscernible block of black ink, written in soft graphite, Belgian artist Mark Cloet writes, “Even though the roots of art are not always traceable or noble, they are at least interesting.” Cloet’s assertion is a rather simple one, that art is a matter of interest. What brings art into the world is an artist who has followed and recorded what they have found interesting. What brings art into broader conversation with the world is a viewer or participant who confronts and extends the work depending on their own beliefs about what is and is not interesting. “At least interesting” is both permission to an artist and an invitation to a viewer or participant.  

At Least Interesting: The Making of a Witness showcases fifteen artists and seventeen artworks from the UTRGV Permanent Collection, each offering an interpretation of Cloet’s assertion. These paintings, prints, photographs, drawings and sculptures range from minimalist abstraction, such as Robert Tiemann’s Untitled from Florentine Light, to directly figurative, such as E.E. Nichols’s The Color Lesson. What binds these differing artworks together is the recognition that before something is found interesting, it must first be observed, and often, as artists tend to understand well, what is carefully observed becomes interesting. To observe is to witness, but to create a tangible work and share that work is to bear witness. Each of the seventeen included artworks is evidence of an artist’s devotion to what they have observed and to what they have claimed as interesting.

The selected artists include Pierre Alechinsky, Mark Cloet, Linnea Glatt, Howard Hack, Karl Kasten, Robert Kirchner, Philip Makanna, John Mill, Keiko Minami, E.E. Nichols, Harold Persico Paris, Peter Ranacher, Anabelle Shelly, Morio Shinoda, and Robert Tiemann.