CoA+A Professor and Alum Co-Curate New McColl Center Exhibition

A new exhibition at McColl Center for Art + Innovation has been co-curated by José L.S. Gámez, associate professor of urban design and director of City.Building.Lab, and Brad Thomas, an alumnus of the Department of Art & Art History. The multimedia exhibition People/Places/Exchanges: Art as a Visual Voice brings together three artists and one collaborative team from across the Americas to navigate the complex terrain of personal and cultural identity within the context of our increasingly diverse society. The exhibition opens January 22 and closes April 9.

What does it mean to be the other? What does it mean to belong? People/Places/Exchanges: Art as a Visual Voice addresses these questions through fantastical tableaus of spiritual migration, site-specific installations, and collaborative activities that place participants squarely in the footsteps of those who have made the journey and are now ready to share their stories: 2015 Alumni Artists-in-Residence Juan Fuentes, Vicente Hernández, Mobile Mural Lab, and Charlotte-based artist Nico Amortegui.

José Gámez’s research and design practices explore questions of cultural identity in architecture and urban design, the impacts of Latino immigration upon urban space, and critical practices in Chicano Art. Brad Thomas, who was named the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus in the Department of Art & Art History, is the former Director of Residencies + Exhibitions at McColl Center for Art + Innovation. He now lives in Minneapolis, where he is an artist, curator, and consultant through his new endeavor, Thomas Contemporary. they will participate with the artists in the Artist + Curator Talk at McColl Center on January 22.