2021 SECAC Juried Exhibition Awards Virtual Ceremony
2021 SECAC Juried Exhibition
The SECAC 2021 Juried Exhibition is presented both virtually and in-person at the Bolivar Art Gallery within the School of Art / Visual Studies at the University of Kentucky. Ninety-six works were selected, and include video, mixed media, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculpture, prints, and more, created by contemporary artists and educators working in the southeastern region and across the United States.
SECAC is a non-profit organization that promotes the study and practice of the visual arts in higher education on a national basis. SECAC facilitates cooperation and fosters ongoing dialog about pertinent creative, scholarly and educational issues among teachers and administrators in universities, colleges, community colleges, professional art schools, and museums; and among independent artists and scholars. The organization fulfills its purpose in part by sponsoring an annual fall conference that provides members with a forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns relevant to the practice and study of art, including a juried exhibition open to SECAC members. While COVID-19 has disrupted the normal schedule of events for the past two years, the conference regularly draws participants from the United States and other countries. Individuals who present their research or creative work at an annual conference gain national exposure for their work in the fields of studio art, art and architectural history, art education, museum studies, and visual resources.
Each year SECAC awards an Artist Fellowship Award. The Fellowship was established in 1981 for the purpose of supporting member artists and to encourage individual creative growth‚ the development of new ideas for exhibitions and creative projects. Through this program‚ SECAC can more completely serve member artists and institutions. 2020 SECAC Artist Fellowship Award Recipient is Tony M. Bingham. Click here to see his exhibition Praise House – Sun Shadows + Four Vessels for Aunt Daisy.
SECAC is a non-profit organization that promotes the study and practice of the visual arts in higher education on a national basis. SECAC facilitates cooperation and fosters ongoing dialog about pertinent creative, scholarly and educational issues among teachers and administrators in universities, colleges, community colleges, professional art schools, and museums; and among independent artists and scholars. The organization fulfills its purpose in part by sponsoring an annual fall conference that provides members with a forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns relevant to the practice and study of art, including a juried exhibition open to SECAC members. While COVID-19 has disrupted the normal schedule of events for the past two years, the conference regularly draws participants from the United States and other countries. Individuals who present their research or creative work at an annual conference gain national exposure for their work in the fields of studio art, art and architectural history, art education, museum studies, and visual resources.
Each year SECAC awards an Artist Fellowship Award. The Fellowship was established in 1981 for the purpose of supporting member artists and to encourage individual creative growth‚ the development of new ideas for exhibitions and creative projects. Through this program‚ SECAC can more completely serve member artists and institutions. 2020 SECAC Artist Fellowship Award Recipient is Tony M. Bingham. Click here to see his exhibition Praise House – Sun Shadows + Four Vessels for Aunt Daisy.
juror statement
As the juror for the 2021 SECAC Juried Exhibition, I believe it bears repeating how challenging it is to narrow down the selections for this annual presentation of artwork from the SECAC member artists. It is also a tremendous privilege to be asked to participate in a conference and an exhibition process that is so closely tied to the scholarly work and the big ideas that spring from our country’s best universities. After reading the artists’ submissions and viewing their work through digital image, video, and audio files, I made decisions based on my experience as a contemporary art curator and my current perspective working at an institution that retains a history as a source for Kentucky artisans and regional folk art, but also as a place where craft activity, design, and other creative practices are being more thoughtfully contextualized into a larger conversation about contemporary art. While strong consideration was made for representing a diversity of artistic mediums, with works made from materials ranging from wood, textiles, clay, and paint, as well as video, photography, and other new and traditional medias, it was also important to recognize work that relates to our current social, political, economic, and environmental realities. I’m grateful to the SECAC team at the University of Kentucky for helping facilitate the jury process and for organizing and installing this exhibition during a time of distant, online communication and remote working conditions. As I culled through the proposed works, I found connections to vast regions of the human condition. I hope that experience translates to all viewers of the show.
about the juror
A Louisville native, Joey Yates is currently the Curatorial Director at KMAC Museum in Louisville, KY. Shortly after receiving a Master of Arts in Critical and Curatorial Studies from the University of Louisville he worked as Gallery Director for the Land of Tomorrow, a Kentucky-based project space that organized notable exhibitions that included a solo presentation by Ebony G. Patterson and a showcase of multimedia work exploring the intersections of art and music called the Expanded Music Project. Since joining KMAC he has curated multiple exhibitions, a selection that includes Simone Leigh: Crop Rotation, William J. O’Brien: Oscillates Wildly, Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Portraits / Positions, Victory Over the Sun: The Poetics and Politics of Eclipse and Sisters of the Moon: Art and the Feminine Dimension. During his time at KMAC he has helped expand the craft identity of the institution to examine the growing connections between craft activity, material culture and contemporary artistic production.
Click on thumbnails below to view larger images and information.
All video work below can be expanded to view at full screen.
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Katina Bitsicas, Vivid Light, 2021, Video, 6:31
Karl Erickson, Sibling Ascension 2: Xylocopa, 2019, Digital Animation, 4:53
Adam Farcus, Five Minutes to Presence, 2021, video with sound, 7:26
John Harlan Norris, Interpolators, 2021, Animation. Interpolators presents a series of ambient animated portraits in which quasi-human forms constructed of signifying objects contend with environmental conditions that threaten their ability to hold together. 3:52
Neill Prewitt, Virtual Rhythm Track, 2019, Single-channel video with stereo audio, 0:48
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Karl Erickson, Hello/Goodbye, 2020, Digital Animation, 2:06
Karl Erickson, Talk to Your Plants About Uplift Experiences, 2020, Digital Animation, 4:30
Forest Kelley, Worker ID CkuzSq3vmO5sZjT from the project Virtual Worker Diaries, 2020, 2:00
Sheri Park, flowers for flowers, 2021, 5:15
Heath Schultz, Typologies of Whiteness: Call Me Daddy, 2020, digital video, 11:30
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