A painting rendered with quick, scribbled lines of paint. It depicts two women sitting on a chair in front of a blue curtain patterned with teardrops. Outlines of teardrops recur throughout the picture. One woman looks down with her hands crossed in her lap. The other woman leans against her shoulder and looks at something in her hands. They appear comfortable with one another, but sad.

 

Sara Jean Odam, Good Grief | Ally and Ruthanne, 2023, Oil on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

 

Aug. 2, 2023

The Emotional Show

East Gallery
August 28, 2023 - March 16, 2024
Opening reception September 1, 2023, 5 - 8 p.m.
 

 

The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is pleased to present The Emotional Show, an exhibition that explores some of the techniques artists have used to grapple with the demanding and amorphous territory of human emotions. By representing emotions as a complex array of phenomena, The Emotional Show pays homage to these sensations that drive our actions and give shape to our lives. 

The act of making an artwork around an emotion puts the artist in the position of both a “feeler” and an observer, one who finds an emotion through which the emotion can be framed. The Emotional Show encompasses a variety of such framings. Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader bring a wry humor to their observations of human behavior under pressure in their performance video, “Classified Digits.” Keith Magruder’s paper installation, “Get Home Safe,” casts a warm brightness over the complicated feelings of comfort and vulnerability he experienced as a child in the 1980s and ‘90s. “When you grow up in a family with a long legacy of military [service] ... you learn quickly that not everyone gets home safe,” he says. Martin Kreloff invokes fear, domination, and alarm, but turns them into a luscious guilty thrill by channeling them through two histrionic pop culture figures: Joan Crawford and the Evil Queen from Walt Disney’s animated Snow White.

The artists ask questions about emotions. How consciously do we choose the paths that lead to them? Can they be both personal and communal? Can cause and effect be tracked? What do we look like to other people when we experience them? Miguel Rodriguez tackles the last question with a series of expressive figurative ceramics. Other artists, such as Sara Jean Odam and John McVay, work to lend visual form to their impalpable interior sensations, the aspects of emotion that no one else can see. Are there objects that suggest emotions without any further commentary—maybe Joan Linder’s meticulous replicas of tissue boxes?

Visitors are given space to meditate on emotions of their own as they relax inside one of Tamar Ettun’s color-rich inflatable environments (previously seen in the artist’s joyful 2018 solo exhibition, Jubilation Inflation), and consider the iconic commercialisation of happiness represented by a curation of buttons assembled from a collection of over 5,000 smiling objects maintained by The Smile Face Museum. 

Emotions lie at the heart of what artists do and they are not often the focus of exhibitions. But as Audre Lorde writes: “Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.” And as Mary Oliver urges: “If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. … Joy is not made to be a crumb.”

The Emotional Show includes artworks from the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art’s permanent collection, along with works on loan from local, national, and international artists. It features art by Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, Daniel Bodner, Tanny Chang, Tamar Ettun, Ali Fathollahi, Liana Finck, Jenna Gribbon, Dan45 Hernandez, Q’shaundra James, Darren Johnson, Lel Kihm, Eri King, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader, Branden Koch, Martin Kreloff, Wendy Kveck, Jason Lazarus, Joan Linder, Keith Magruder, John McVay, groana melendez, Quindo Miller, Sara Jean Odam, Néstor Pérez-Molière,  Edward Renouf, Heidi Rider, Miguel Rodriguez, Cara Romero, Lorna Simpson, Lester Sloan, Lance L. Smith, Brittany Tucker, Geovany Uranda, Jen Urso, Fulton Leroy Washington (aka MR WASH), Megan Whitmarsh, Mikayla Whitmore, Thomas Ray Willis, Yek, Brian Zimmerman, and The Smile Face Museum.

The Emotional Show will be on view at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV from August 28, 2023, with an opening reception on the evening of September 1. Entry to the Museum is free. Masks are recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

ҳ| 鶹ýӳ the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art

The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art believes everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that holds space for us all. Located on the campus of one of the most racially diverse university in the United States, we strive to create a nourishing environment for those who continue to be neglected by contemporary art museums, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ groups. As the only art museum in the city of Las Vegas, we commit ourselves to leveling barriers that limit access to the arts, especially for first-time visitors. To facilitate access for low-income guests we provide free entry to all our exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and community activities. Our collection of artworks offers an opportunity for researchers and scholars to develop a more extensive knowledge of contemporary art in Southern Nevada. The Barrick Museum is part of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).
 
All of the museum’s galleries are accessible to wheelchair users and other visitors who cannot use stairs. Services such as sign language interpretation can be arranged. Please contact the museum to discuss your needs: barrick.museum@unlv.edu, 702-895-3381.
 
Find Us
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is located in the heart of the ҳ| 鶹ýӳ campus. The museum is easily accessed from the west side of campus at the intersection of Harmon Avenue and University Center Drive. Drive east on East Harmon Ave until the road enters the campus and terminates in a parking lot. The Museum will be on your right, next to a desert landscape garden. Directions here.
 
Parking
Visitors may park in metered, staff, and student spots free of charge after 7 pm on weekdays, 1 pm on Fridays, and all day Saturday.
Daily, weekly, or monthly permits can be purchased from Parking and Transportation Services.
 
Metered parking spaces for visitors can be found in the parking lot outside the Barrick’s entrance, along East Harmon Ave, and in the lot behind the Lied Library. Other metered green zones are available in the  and parking areas throughout campus. Download the “PayByPhone Parking” app from Google Play or the iTunes app store. 
 
Contact
702-895-3381