Published: Oct 25, 2007
The University of Tampa’s Scarfone/Hartley Gallery plans to mark its
30th anniversary this month with an exhibit showcasing the works of
three UT alumni: Kendra Frorup, Roger Chamieh and Marc Mitchell.
The
exhibit will open on Friday, Oct. 26, with an opening reception with
the artists at 7 p.m. in the gallery. The artists will also be present
for a gallery talk at 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29, led by Emeritus
Professor of Art Gilbert DeMeza. Both events are free and open to the
public.
The trio consists of two sculptors (Frorup and Chamieh)
and a painter (Mitchell), whose works are as different and varied as
their respective backgrounds.
Frorup, an assistant professor of
art at UT, is a native of the Bahamas and a 1992 graduate. She went on
to receive a master of fine arts degree from Syracuse University. In an
essay on the works of the three artists, DeMeza describes Frorup as a
“collector,” who uses “the old, the used and discarded” to create works
that display “both poignancy and invigorating humor.” For the
Scarfone/Hartley exhibit, she has constructed multiple moving sculptures
that each take the form of a children’s merry-go-round.
Chamieh,
a 1993 graduate, was born in Lebanon and raised in both the United Arab
Emirates and the United Kingdom. His works are large sculptures that
easily catch the viewer’s eye, such as his work titled “Corazón,” which
consists of a steel cage balanced atop numerous steel rods that stand
several feet high. DeMeza writes that Chamieh’s works exhibit “the
fragile, yet enduring nature of life itself.”
Mitchell graduated
from UT in 2000 with a degree in finance and later completed his master
of fine arts degree at Boston University. His paintings are abstract
renderings of various architectural forms. Mitchell takes a “deceptively
simple” approach to the paintings he creates, DeMeza writes, taking the
viewer “from pure surface to areas deep in the subconscious.”
The
Scarfone/Hartley Gallery is located in the R.K. Bailey Arts Studios,
310 N. Boulevard, at The University of Tampa campus. Visitors can view
the exhibit during the gallery’s regular hours, which are Tuesday
through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibit
lasts through Nov. 30. Admission is free.
For more information, contact Dorothy Cowden at (813) 253-6217 or e-mail
dcowden@ut.edu.