A mockup of Iowa State University’s Biennale Sessions installation, which will feature life-sized figures with images depicting joy on one side and uncertainty on the other side displayed down the center of the Arsenale.
A small group of art students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham will participate in the 2017 Venice Biennale in Italy.
Assistant Professor of Sculpture Stacey Holloway, MFA, in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History will lead DAAH students Emily Stroud of Birmingham, Mary Kalusche of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Amber Morgado of Moody, in joining students and faculty from Iowa State University to collaboratively install and present artworks. The group will be gone Oct. 16-23.
The project, “Joyful Uncertainty,” consists of life-size, figurative cutouts with images symbolizing joy on one side and uncertainty on the other side. Begun through partnerships within the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities, the project is interdisciplinary and international in scope — a massive team effort of thinking, making, planning and communication, resulting in a learning experience for all involved. Developed by graphic design, interior design and integrated studio arts students from the Iowa State University College of Design, the installation addresses the tension they experience between joyful anticipation and anxious uncertainty over what lies ahead on their journeys through an unpredictable world. The project seeks recognition and understanding from viewers that will validate the students’ depictions of self and life’s journey, thereby uniting generations via art.
Once the works are completed and installed at the Venice Arsenale, the students will host guided tours and a reception Friday, Oct. 20. Holloway and the students will report on their work in Venice via the UAB DAAH Instagram account, @uabdaah.
For more than 120 years, the Venice Biennale has been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Established in 1895, the Biennale has an attendance today of more than 500,000 visitors at the Art Exhibition. This year’s exhibition, titled “Viva Arte Viva,” features 120 invited artists.