Oregon daily emerald., April 27, 2000, Page 4B and 5B, Image 16

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New View 2000 Office of Student Life
The ‘MFA 2000’ exhibit displays a fresh,
innovative group of artists taylor-made
for the University audience
By Rory Carroll
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s only one week before the opening of
the Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibi
tion, “MFA 2000” at the Museum of Art,
and sculptor David Norem is still deciding
what to do with his stone carving center
piece.
The alabaster and soapstone work sits in
the middle of his impressive studio, which
he has installed into the museum. The clas
sical-looking stone carving is immersed in
a room covered wall to wall with vibrant,
colorful, dream-like drawings. It almost
seems paradoxical to have this conservative
sculpture in the center of such chaos, but
Norem thinks of it as the eye of the storm.
“I don’t know if I’ll be drawing on it, or
throwing paint on it, or finishing it,” Norem
said. He said that his to is always in a state
of motion and, just because he is showing
at “MFA 2000” doesn’t mean that the work
is finished.
“It. has no end. It doesn’t have to be over,
and to a certain extent, it never really had a
beginning,” he said.
Norem sees installing his studio into the
museum as an attempt to break down the
barrier between to and life.
“I’m working in here trying to create as
much energy and as much evidence of
work as possible,” he said.
Norem said that he is trying to transcend
the museum space — and it works. When
you walk into Norem’s comer of the exhibit,
you can’t help but experience a feeling that
you could be anywhere, coupled with a
child-like sense of wonder. Norem de
scribes it as “world-building.”
This kind of transfor
mation is not limited to
just Norem’s area in the
gallery. The feel of the en
tire museum has received
a makeover for “MFA
2000.” The MFA has a
reputation for innovation
and the kind of unbridled
creativity that Norem is
displaying. Usually the
art museum features
more traditional art, and
it’s rare that the artists are actually present
when the work is put up. With the MFA,
the 12 students have divided the space up
among themselves and do the installation
work themselves.
“It’s nice to give our audiences variety,
and we always have a good turnout,” public
relations and marketing coordinator Kaci
Manning said. “There is a broad range of
mediums that mesh really well.”
Photography, printmaking, ceramics, vi
sual design and sculpture will all be on dis
play during “MFA 2000.”
Although the art changes, the role of the
museum stays the same, according to Man
ning.
“Being part of the University, we put on
educational exhibitions,” Manning said.
“We have different audiences for the differ
ent shows. The MFA show targets the Uni
versity.”
Another sculptor, Renee DeCarlo, uses
flesh as material for her art. She takes ani
mal intestines, cuts the tubes into strips,
soaks them in hot water and stretches them
out. She then applies them to a frame work.
The result is a cocoon like structure called
“the Beginning, the Middle and the End.”
“The whole concept was that I wanted to
make these chambers that are places of rest
and release from anxiety,” DeCarlo said.
Her exhibit is a compilation of 2 years of
work. As well as displaying her sculptures,
she will also be showing 350 feet of draw
ings that she calls her “journals.” DeCarlo
sees her unconventional approach to sculp
ture as an expression of her self.
“I’m glad that there is tradition in art
making, but I think that’s just there for us to
reference and to derive our energy from,”
Rigby said. “Everything here is very person
al to me.”
The MFA exhibit will run from April 29
to June 11. Every Wednesday night, the Mu
sEvening! artist gallery talks will feature
MFA students speaking about their work.
These gallery talks begin at 5:30 p.m. with
the exception of David Norem’s talk, which
will be at 7:00 p.m. May 31. The Master of
Fine Arts exhibition opens Saturday. An
opening reception for the artists will take
place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday. The re
ception is free and open to the public.
courtesy of University of Oregon Museum of Art
{ (It's nice to give our
audiences variety; and
we always have a good
turnout... We have
different audiences for
the different shows. The
MFA show targets the
University.
(top right) Renee DeCarlo’s sculpture the
Beginning, the Middle and the End’ cre
ates a cocoon-like space, (right) Dillon Mc
Daniel’s installation including ’Dunce
Cap,’ ’Ring* and ‘Crown’ uses mixed me
dia and large surface areas. ‘MFA 2000’
will open with a reception Friday night
and will run until June 11. Admission to
the Museum of Art is free to students and
faculty.
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