Exhibition Schedule
University of Wisconsin-Parkside, The Fine Arts Gallery, Kenosha, WI, September 1- November 23, 2015
Biography
Together, Prosen and Hunt have a shared background in figure drawing and abstract composition. Prosen graduated with a BFA from the University of Manitoba, in Canada, received her MFA in Painting from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and is an Alumni of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. For the last decade, she has served as a Senior Instructor within the Painting and Drawing department at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Primarily a painter, she targets personal associations with societal influences in allegorical works. Along with painting, she is completing a second masters degree in Psychology at UWM.
Joshua Hunt is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, receiving a BFA in Art Education. Hunt's work targets issues involving the development of abstraction as well as personal expression. His work expands the mediums of painting and drawing, digital art, and conceptual installations. Hunt has served a Visual Art teacher within Milwaukee Public Schools and the Mequon-Thiensville School District. Beyond teaching, Hunt is the Curator of the Museum of Scouting Art.
This two person exhibition, is a growing display of individual and shared associations regarding unique societal and personal issues. These personal works and collaborative installations create a chaotic harmony-- unifying and blurring the distinction between the works and perceptions of each artist.
Joshua Hunt is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, receiving a BFA in Art Education. Hunt's work targets issues involving the development of abstraction as well as personal expression. His work expands the mediums of painting and drawing, digital art, and conceptual installations. Hunt has served a Visual Art teacher within Milwaukee Public Schools and the Mequon-Thiensville School District. Beyond teaching, Hunt is the Curator of the Museum of Scouting Art.
This two person exhibition, is a growing display of individual and shared associations regarding unique societal and personal issues. These personal works and collaborative installations create a chaotic harmony-- unifying and blurring the distinction between the works and perceptions of each artist.
Project Description
Open Request for Sponsors
The traveling collaboration between artists and educators- "The Self and Society" by Deidre Prosen and Joshua Hunt- centers on raising awareness for greater social responsibility/environmental stewardship. "The Self and Society" project addresses an array of social issues including gun-related tragedies, affects of overconsumption, and the role of self-expression in contemporary society. The project will collaborate with six art institutions and communities throughout the country to stage exhibitions, artist lectures, and public art interventions.
This project is welcoming sponsorship from individual and organizations to aid and support the production, travel, and display of artworks within the project "The Self and Society" to reach the goal of becoming a traveling exhibition of formal and public art engagement.
This project's mission is to illustrate prevalent issues facing people individually and as a collective society through a dual-minded artistic lens. The collaborative art project between Deidre Prosen and Joshua Hunt was formed to explore personal outlooks of contemporary society as a jumping off point for art-making, social activism, and self advocacy. The nature of the theme is open-ended, however the project has pinpointed several a major subjects to address during the initial phase of art production: domestic gun-related tragedies, affects of overconsumption, and the role of self-expression in a contemporary society. The intended impact of the exhibition project is to increase social awareness, civic responsibility, and individualism.
The project seeks to display at five to six highly recognized art institutions regionally and nationally. Currently, the project will debut at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin (September 1- November 23, 2015) and with hopeful support from organizations and individuals "The Self and Society" will continue as a traveling exhibition throughout the country.
In form, the initial collection is divided into three categories: allegorical 2-d work and content specific installations, and public art interventions. The allegorical 2-d work will consist of a collection of drawings and paintings representing an array of overlapping social and personal issues. As instructors and artists both Prosen and Hunt have art backgrounds heavily rooted in drawing and painting. In painting they both are invested in the exploration of expressionism, the development of abstraction, and conceptual applications of figure and form. This approach to painting results in a diverse range of subjects which are represented in every work. Each image possesses chaotic compositions that depict prevalent social issues of inequality, virtual detachment, environmental threats, materialism, and war.
The content-specific installations are very deliberate in the issues they address. The collection has planned two installations for the debut show. The first is titled "Exit Wounds" and it addresses shooting trends in current society with the theme of violence vs. play. In form, the project consists of a series of panel boards with painted phrases that have been shot with a gun. Each panel displays a set of words associated with gun use and the act of shooting, with an image on the reverse side. The messages of each panel will be divided among play, imagination, and descriptions from actual gun related tragedies. The installation attempts to blur the distinction between reality and fiction involving violence and play. Moreover the work calls for an end to gun violence, which attributes to about 32,000 American deaths each year, according to the CDC.
The second content-specific installation, titled "Tumors," illustrates the negative impacts of overconsumption and pollution on our ecosystem. In form, the installation will consists of a mass collection of mixed media assemblages/tumors built from materials that would otherwise be discarded. The installation will sprawl throughout the exhibition on the walls, ceiling and floor space and will culminate at one focal point consisting of a mass of arranged garbage. The installations title, "Tumors", is a representation that the earth's health is being compromised by pollution and overconsumption serving as its 'cancer'. The intent of this installation is to promote environmental awareness and stewardship regarding the urgency to curb our collective footprint to ensure future environmental sustainability.
Finally, we would use our exhibition to serve the communities in which our work is displayed by inviting and giving artists talks in the gallery spaces to community and school groups. Along with the formal gallery exhibition the project consists of related works in the community such as small activist public art interventions (random placement of tumors, gunshot installations, flyers/social issues posters). The public art interventions will be held in conjunction with each exhibition and will heighten public awareness of the need for greater social responsibility/environmental stewardship throughout the Midwest and country.
This project is welcoming sponsorship from individual and organizations to aid and support the production, travel, and display of artworks within the project "The Self and Society" to reach the goal of becoming a traveling exhibition of formal and public art engagement.
This project's mission is to illustrate prevalent issues facing people individually and as a collective society through a dual-minded artistic lens. The collaborative art project between Deidre Prosen and Joshua Hunt was formed to explore personal outlooks of contemporary society as a jumping off point for art-making, social activism, and self advocacy. The nature of the theme is open-ended, however the project has pinpointed several a major subjects to address during the initial phase of art production: domestic gun-related tragedies, affects of overconsumption, and the role of self-expression in a contemporary society. The intended impact of the exhibition project is to increase social awareness, civic responsibility, and individualism.
The project seeks to display at five to six highly recognized art institutions regionally and nationally. Currently, the project will debut at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin (September 1- November 23, 2015) and with hopeful support from organizations and individuals "The Self and Society" will continue as a traveling exhibition throughout the country.
In form, the initial collection is divided into three categories: allegorical 2-d work and content specific installations, and public art interventions. The allegorical 2-d work will consist of a collection of drawings and paintings representing an array of overlapping social and personal issues. As instructors and artists both Prosen and Hunt have art backgrounds heavily rooted in drawing and painting. In painting they both are invested in the exploration of expressionism, the development of abstraction, and conceptual applications of figure and form. This approach to painting results in a diverse range of subjects which are represented in every work. Each image possesses chaotic compositions that depict prevalent social issues of inequality, virtual detachment, environmental threats, materialism, and war.
The content-specific installations are very deliberate in the issues they address. The collection has planned two installations for the debut show. The first is titled "Exit Wounds" and it addresses shooting trends in current society with the theme of violence vs. play. In form, the project consists of a series of panel boards with painted phrases that have been shot with a gun. Each panel displays a set of words associated with gun use and the act of shooting, with an image on the reverse side. The messages of each panel will be divided among play, imagination, and descriptions from actual gun related tragedies. The installation attempts to blur the distinction between reality and fiction involving violence and play. Moreover the work calls for an end to gun violence, which attributes to about 32,000 American deaths each year, according to the CDC.
The second content-specific installation, titled "Tumors," illustrates the negative impacts of overconsumption and pollution on our ecosystem. In form, the installation will consists of a mass collection of mixed media assemblages/tumors built from materials that would otherwise be discarded. The installation will sprawl throughout the exhibition on the walls, ceiling and floor space and will culminate at one focal point consisting of a mass of arranged garbage. The installations title, "Tumors", is a representation that the earth's health is being compromised by pollution and overconsumption serving as its 'cancer'. The intent of this installation is to promote environmental awareness and stewardship regarding the urgency to curb our collective footprint to ensure future environmental sustainability.
Finally, we would use our exhibition to serve the communities in which our work is displayed by inviting and giving artists talks in the gallery spaces to community and school groups. Along with the formal gallery exhibition the project consists of related works in the community such as small activist public art interventions (random placement of tumors, gunshot installations, flyers/social issues posters). The public art interventions will be held in conjunction with each exhibition and will heighten public awareness of the need for greater social responsibility/environmental stewardship throughout the Midwest and country.