The College of Arts + Architecture presents War and Other Remnants, an installation by Jarod Charzewski, in Storrs Gallery from October 7 through December 1. The gallery will host an opening reception and artist talk on Friday, October 7, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Charzewski's installations rearrange the recycled residual of mass consumption to show us who we are. War and Other Remnants sets “Military Carving by the Book,” Charzewski’s three soldiers made from recycled books on war, as guardians in front of a landscape of used clothing. The active stance of these soldiers will “protect” yesterday’s bright and colorful clothing purchases, as the rolling hills of wear and tear fill the Storrs Gallery behind them. This recycled “used” landscape is a recurring theme in Charzewski’s work and is referred to by the artist as “the geology of the new earth.” The used clothing will be donated from Goodwill® Industries of the Southern Piedmont for the duration of the exhibit and returned after the show; the soldiers are on loan from the artist.
“My work investigates the transferring of animate sentiments to inanimate objects,” says the artist. “The value put on objects that we humanistically continue to collect give us pleasure. That pleasure gives comfort and that comfort lends itself to compulsion.”
A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Charzewski’s graduate studies brought him to the United States to earn an MFA in sculpture from the University of Minnesota. He has served as a professor of sculpture at the College of Charleston since 2006. His creative pursuits, whether sculptural or installation-based, explore many contemporary environmental issues. He has maintained a rigorous exhibition record in the upper latitudes of the U.S. and Canada, with a recent concentration in the southeast and a residency at Kudztown University in Pennsylvania.
The College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte would like to thank Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont for their temporary donation of clothing for the cause of this educational exhibition. Thanks to material and financial donations from the community, Goodwill is able to provide job training and employment services free of charge to individuals in the region facing barriers to employment such as lack of skills, experience or education and criminal backgrounds. All clothing in this exhibition will be returned to Goodwill in continuance of their ongoing mission of changing lives through the power of work.