An announcement from Virginia Gause

Summer sizzles with hot new exhibit at STC Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery

“Venus on a Halfshell” by Victoria Suescum        “Wind/Spring” by Jimena Marin
Oil on Canvas with Oil Cloth & Ripcloth Nylon Frame       Acrylic on Canvas
5ft. x 6ft.                                                                      20’’ x 16’

There is a sizzling summer of activity taking place at South Texas College’s Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery located at 3201 West Pecan Blvd. in McAllen. Summer festivities continue with the opening of a new exhibit of internationally acclaimed artists. “‘Self’ Conscious World ‘Identity’” features the artworks of Victoria Suescum and Jimena Marin.

Opening Thursday, July 17^th, the exhibit showcases Suescum’s installation art and mixed-media paintings along with a collection of Marin’s charcoal drawings, paintings and fiber artworks. In addition to the opening on July 17^th, the artists will speak about their craft from 2 to 4 p.m. and an artists’ reception will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. All activities are free and open to the public.

“We are thrilled about this exhibit and particularly the lectures, which will inform our students and community about the resourceful methods of the creative process, including how an artist thinks and is inspired from within their environment and how that carries over into their work,” said David Freeman, STC Library Art Gallery curator and programs coordinator. “ Both Suescum and Marin have very specific reasoning behind their artistic concepts as their artwork draws from personal observations and experiences that are global, informative and insightful.”

A San Antonio resident and faculty member at Austin Community College, Suescum has exhibited her work on all three coasts of the United States, as well as in Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, earning her international acclaim. Her work is influenced by hand-painted signage and vernacular from her hometown in Panama, as well as regions across Latin America.

She also references historical written and graphic materials that inspire her creative interest in the celebration of feminism and social and political discourse. Her work also delves into Greek, Native American and European concepts of beauty, aesthetics and style. The frames of her pieces are an integral part of the work, not just an embellishment, offering the viewer a multi-media extravaganza of inflatable vinyl, Styrofoam and Hydrocal.

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico Jimena Marin is a 2008 MFA graduate from Texas Tech University. Her artwork concentrates on the systematic repetition of pattern and design to express and register emotion.

“My art is a registro of mental and emotional processes related to personal experiences,” said Marin. ”As a child I learned that by engaging in repetitive tasks, I was able to travel mentally to a place that was better than my reality. My art is a sample of what my hands and body were doing during my mental journey. I build structures that connect with my ideas in a poetic way; I create visual metaphors and by repeating shapes with a rhythm I get a material evidence of my thoughts and learning processes.”

“‘Self’ Conscious World ‘Identity’” will be on view through September 12, 2008. For more information about the exhibit or upcoming exhibits and events call 956-872-3488 or visit www.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.