Annual exhibition showcases work of graduating Visual Arts students
Students from UBC’s Okanagan campus this month are presenting the popular week-long Graduate Exhibition. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) year-end show is one of the region’s premier annual art events.
Twenty Twelve includes a wide-ranging collection of artwork created and exhibited by 34 emerging artists from the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS).
The exhibition’s name, Twenty Twelve, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the over-sensationalized Mayan doomsday prophecy for 2012.
“How’s that for timing?” says painter Marissa Brown, a participating Visual Arts student. “We’re graduating and it’s the end of the world! Well, if that’s the case, Twenty Twelve could be the last great art show on Earth.”
Marissa Brown is one of 34 fourth-year Bachelor of Fine Arts students showing their work during the Twenty Twelve: BFA Graduate Exhibition, April 17-24 in the Fine Arts and Health Building.
The variety of work embraces traditional art forms such as painting, printmaking and sculpture. Also featured will be interactive sound and video displays, large-scale photography, soft sculptures, illustrated journals, and screen-printed collage. There is even an opportunity to engage with relational art in the form of a free-standing confession booth.
“Appropriate for such an exciting year, the BFA Graduate Exhibition leaves no medium behind,” Brown says. “We’re showcasing art that reflects on the past, is grounded in the present, and looks to the future.”
BFA students are tasked with producing Twenty Twelve, a large-scale professional exhibition and gala event. Beginning the week of Easter Monday, students will start rearranging parts of the Fine Arts & Health Building, essentially converting it into a massive gallery space.
Twenty Twelve opens its doors for viewing on Tuesday, April 17 and runs until Tuesday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The Exhibition Gala — which includes a student-award ceremony — starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, with eclectic live music by The Darylectones, refreshments, and complementary appetizers.
All graduating BFA artists will be present at the Exhibition Gala, at which time their works will be available for purchase. Twenty Twelve exhibition catalogues, created by graduating FCCS students, will be available for purchase for the duration of the show.
The annual exhibition — free and open to the public — has been a smash hit with Okanagan art lovers since its inception.
Twenty Twelve is supported with funds collected in December at the annual student-run Art on the Line event, which raised about $17,500. This major fundraiser helps to pay for such things as catering, live entertainment, catalogue printing, floor paint, and building supplies. Both Art on the Line and the year-end BFA Graduate Exhibition are highly recognized and well-attended annual public events at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
The exhibition is co-sponsored by FCCS, the Department of Creative Studies, and the Visual Arts Course Union. The student show also benefitted from the generous support of OK Builders Supplies Ltd.
Laura Widmer, fourth-year Bachelor of Fine Arts student
Avery De Rousie, fourth-year Bachelor of Fine Arts student
Judith Mueller, fourth-year Bachelor of Fine Arts student
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