A collection of art from OSU faculty at the Biennial Faculty Exhibition, which took place at the Gardiner Gallery of Art. (Photo by Jason Wallace, College of Arts and Sciences)

OSU’s Biennial Faculty Exhibition showcased a variety of works from several faculty members

Friday, September 30, 2022

Media Contact: Jordan Bishop | Editor, Department of Brand Management | 405-744-7193 | jordan.bishop@okstate.edu

The Biennial Faculty Exhibition for the 2022-2023 academic year took place from Aug. 22 to Sept. 16.

The Gardiner Gallery of Art featured recent works from full-time, adjunct and emeriti faculty members within Oklahoma State University’s Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History.

The faculty exhibition is designed to provide students and gallery visitors the opportunity to view new and exciting work produced by OSU artists and educators. The exhibition takes place every two years to ensure that students are able to see the faculty work at least once throughout their time at OSU.

As a condition of employment, OSU Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History faculty members must be a practicing artist, designer or art historian. This exhibition gives faculty the opportunity to showcase their latest work and achievements to the OSU community.

This year was the first faculty exhibition since Chris Whittey became the new department head.

“I very much like the idea of the students seeing what the faculty are doing, not only the quality of the work, which is outstanding, but also the breadth of the work from sculpture to drawings to prints,” Whittey said. “I think it provides an example to students that you make this decision to be an artist or designer by putting your stake in the ground and you don't pull up the stake, you don’t back down.”

All faculty members are invited to display their work in the faculty exhibition. This year’s exhibition featured work by Mary Claire Becker,

Art from Mary Claire Becker — Mosaic Virus IV: Anna Ruysch Redux from OSU professor Mary Claire Becker. (Photo by Jason Wallace, College of Arts and Sciences)

Benjamin Murphy, Justen Renyer, Molly Kaderka, Kate Kinder, Ting Wang-Hedges, Whittey, Liz Roth, Dean Bloodgood, Nick Mendoza, Marika Christofides, Robin Baker, Jennifer Borland, Chris Ramsay, Brandon Reese, Jessica Teckemeyer, and Andy Mattern and Martin Venezky.

The work showcased in the exhibit came from a variety of mediums including sculpture, painting, motion graphics, zines and crafted objects in jewelry and metals.

“There's no central theme, but if you spend time with the work, you see certain themes start to emerge a little bit,” Whittey said. “Sometimes, artists are very interested in materiality and the material that they make the work with, sometimes artists are more concerned with the conceptual nature of a project, sometimes it's more aesthetic, but you see connections between the work in those ways.”

Becker is an assistant professor in the Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History. This is her second year participating in the faculty exhibition since she came to work at OSU in 2020.

“One of my favorite things about working at a university is being a part of a community of artists, and the faculty exhibition helps us to celebrate each other’s successes,” Becker said.

Becker submitted two pieces to the faculty exhibit. Her piece Mosaic Virus IV: Anna Ruysch Redux comments on contemporary society’s unsustainable use of ecological resources for economic gain by depicting Semper Augustus tulips, a plant known for having a virus that made it an unsustainable investment.

“Artmaking is a way of exploring, researching and commenting upon a plethora of aspects of human experience,” Becker said. “Professors in the OSU art department are making work about all kinds of things: migration, globalization, gun violence, climate change, sense of place, monster theory, ecofeminism, workers’ rights and more. I hope visitors to the exhibit will see the artworks on display both as interesting aesthetic objects and as opportunities to engage with and think about our research topics.”

The exhibit was highly successful in attendance by students and faculty. Provost Jeanette Mendez attended the opening reception that took place Aug. 24. The success of the event demonstrates the impact that art has on bringing the community together.

“I’m thinking that perhaps we do not talk about the social function of art often enough and how works like this provoke a wonderful coming together,” Whittey said. “This is, to my way of thinking, the work of the work.”

Story By: Hadley DeJarnette | hadley.dejarnette@okstate.edu