With Pleasure, the 2022 TCU MFA Candidacy Exhibition

With Pleasure, 2022 TCU MFA Candidacy Exhibition

Featuring work by Sheryl Anaya, Benjamin Loftis, Madi Ortega, and Sarah Theurer Hunt

Fort Worth Contemporary Arts

January 14 – February 12, 2022

The Art Galleries at TCU presents With Pleasure, the 2022 MFA Candidacy Exhibition, featuring the work of TCU’s second year Master of Fine Arts candidates; Sheryl Anaya, Benjamin Loftis, Madi Ortega, and Sarah Theurer Hunt. The exhibition will be on-view from January 14th through February 12th, with an opening reception on Friday, January 14th from 6-8pm. An Artist Talk will be hosted in the gallery on Saturday, January 22nd at 2pm. In step with Texas Christian University’s Covid-19 protocols we ask that all visitors wear a mask while in the gallery and maintain social distance from other visitors.

The work in the exhibition revolves around themes of place and explores memory with regards to specific sites. It is the culmination of the first half of the artists’ graduate research and showcases work from their independent explorations in sculpture, painting, and new media. The show allows viewers to explore what they have been creating in their studios and the themes that propel their practices.

Sheryl Anaya explores the creation of new narratives from childhood memories—how our time in domestic spaces shapes who we are and if our recollections and reconstructions of past experiences are accurate, if even real. Using food as an anchor for memory, she invites the viewer to consider their own experiences and associations through sculpture and storytelling.

Benjamin Loftis' work explores the intersection of the historical idealized male physique, emphasized during Loftis’ upbringing, with the discontinued body mechanics studies of Ivy League institutions. This study photographed nude male students in a controlled setting so their posture and body type could be examined and unfairly categorized. This practice lasted for nearly a century ending in the 1970’s. By alluding to these biased studies in his work, connections are made between childhood influences, the artist’s psyche, and personal body image.

Madeline Ortega’s current work discovers continuities, or their disruption over time, in recollections of visiting her family’s property as a child. This nostalgic location and period allows her work to reference the unique routines and makeshift resolutions introduced by her grandparents. Through her practice, she recognizes the significance of these experiences and confronts her struggles with change.

Sarah Theurer Hunt explores walking as it relates to nocturnal landscapes, and how these spaces are activated with the presence of a viewer. Sound, form, and surface push the audience to approach the work from multiple directions. The resulting body of work uses the ambiguity of darkness to elicit a memory or an encounter within the undeveloped spaces just outside of one’s certainty.

Fort Worth Contemporary Arts is one of two galleries that comprise The Art Galleries at TCU. Students and alumni of the College of Fine Arts and guest artists exhibit at these galleries. Fort Worth Contemporary Arts is located at 2900 W. Berry St. on the edge of the TCU Campus, Fort Worth, TX 76109. Gallery Hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 12 – 5 pm, and by appointment. Admission is free. Fort Worth Contemporary Arts is open to the public and in step with TCU’s Covid-19 protocols we ask that all visitors follow these guidelines:

All visitors (students, faculty, staff and general public) must wear masks in the galleries, as well as all indoor spaces on TCU’s campus.

Visitors must maintain 3ft social distancing while in the gallery.

All gallery guests must sign-in for contact tracing purposes.

For more information about this exhibition, images for press, or details about other activities of The Art Galleries at TCU, please contact Sara-Jayne Parsons, Curator, [email protected] , 817-257-2707

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