Home' exhibition to open at SFA

This montage of images is representative of the four artists' works that are included in "Home," an exhibition that the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art will open at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in Griffith Gallery.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will open "Home," an exhibition that explores architectural construction and deconstruction, at 6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 22, in Griffith Gallery, Room 208 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus.

The exhibition, featuring works by four artists, includes paintings, sculptures and an outdoor installation, explained Christian Cutler, director of SFA galleries and the show's curator. "We're excited to bring together these artists, each of whom makes art related to housing and architecture. Viewers will find that the show encompasses the themes of suburbanization, entropy, recycling and shelter.

Kevin Curry's outdoor installation, "NIMBY," is situated in front of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, facing Alumni Dr. The small house-like structure is composed of reclaimed fencing and pieces of acrylic signs that littered the streets of Houston after Hurricane Ike.

"NIMBY" (Not In My Back Yard) was built to house a single bed and "serves as a cocoon of sorts--providing a place of relaxation at a time of great destruction," said Curry.

Fabio Fernandez's model houses and buildings are all constructed from repurposed wood that was originally used in crates for clementines.

According to a review in Detroit's Metro Times, "The diminutive scale (of the models) implies the sweetness of the fruit, as well as the compression of thoughtfulness and integrity of Fernandez's ideas and his overall concern with the fragile nature of the material world."

Also included in the exhibition are two series of paintings by David Linniweh--"Painting, Refurbished" and Painting, Re-Assembled"-each of which "deconstructs/reconstructs familiar settings which at one time felt new but over time have become stale," explained the artist.

Joshua Smith's series, "The Suburbs of the Emerald City," consists of handmade ceramic geodes with rows of cast crystal monopoly houses inside of them. The ongoing project, which began in 2005, "explores the relationship of the ideal suburbia and its reality," said Smith.

"Home," which is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum, will be on display through Saturday, March 13. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.

Griffith Fine Arts Building is located at 2222 Alumni Dr. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.