March 26, 2012: Reception and lecture by Rutgers' art professor Margery Amdur

Reception: 5:30-7 p.m.
Monday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Fine Arts Building, Kimura Gallery

Lecture: 7:30 p.m.
Fine Arts Building, Room 117

Professor Margery Amdur, who teaches at the Camden campus of Rutgers University, will present a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in Room 117, Fine Arts Building on Monday, March 26. There will be a reception from 5:30-7 p.m. in front of the Kimura Gallery. Her exhibition consists of a new installation and body of work that is titled 'Walking on Sunshine; or Between My Selves.'

Artist's remarks:

"For 30 years I have been a painter, and an installation artist. In the past two years I have entered into the area of public art. My goal now is to meld these sometimes-disparate worlds so that I can create art at and beyond their intersection.

"I argue between-my-selves that it is not necessary to choose painting between the lines or making art in a non confined way. I am interested in both permanence and impermanence. It is the presence of my hand as a maker of things, which is the major component in my work. I am a mark-maker on and off the canvas, and I do not restrict myself to any one material. I like to live in that very fluid space between painting, sculpture, and printmaking.

"On the surface, my work flirts with traditional notions of beauty and femininity; however, behind this veil, a complex narrative exists using gardens as metaphor. Flowers have been enlarged and appropriated from actual paint-by-number kits. What looks to be boldly charged expressionistic strokes of color are in reality, sheets of clear acetate originally used as palettes for other work. Labor-intensive, obsessively- ritualized processes are as important to the making of the work as they are to the final product. In fairy tales we suspend belief of the ordinary, where hair can be spun into gold. Within my picture frames, I too perform magic with my materials and methods.

"In lieu of creating environments where disparate elements compete for stature, I am interested in cultivating visual tensions within one pictorial playing field where issues of abstraction and representation intersect. Ultimately, I intend to create sensuous and visually captivating objects that engage spectators on a purely visceral level."