Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Annual School of Art Faculty Exhibition at Stephen F. Austin State University, featuring a separate show by Jeffie Brewer, assistant professor of sculpture and drawing, opens with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
The faculty show is an event the university community looks forward to at the beginning of each fall semester, according to John Handley, director of galleries at SFA.
“I am very proud of our faculty in the School of Art and their dedication to, not only educating the next generation of artists, but also their commitment to their own art making,” he said. “Many of these artists are carried by art dealers around the U.S., and some also have their work in major museum collections.”
The exhibition, which runs through Oct. 15, includes mediums of all types, Handley said.
“Typically each year we see a variety of recent work from our SFA School of Art faculty – painting, drawing, photography, film, sculpture, metal work, mixed media – and that ‘hard-to-categorize’ piece that often is included,” Handley said.
Brewer has titled his exhibition “when I get my hands on you,” stating the ideas and subsequent work for the show “have been bouncing around in my head for quite some time.”
“It's been very cathartic to get it out,” he said. “So thinking about the ideas and imagery, working them into different solutions in my mind, and then putting the visions into action is all part of the process, culminating in the final products straight from my hands.
“The expression ‘when I get my hands on you’ can mean several things – from very nice to very dark, and I enjoy that dichotomy,” he said. “Things aren't always what they seem.”
On his website, Brewer describes his work: “We are given a brief amount of time together. As an artist, I consider it a gift to be able to share my vision and experience. Sometimes it’s serious, sometimes it’s thoughtful, and a lot of the time it’s just silly. The shared experience of existing, living, loving, thinking... seeing beauty, knowing fear, feeling passion, and just being is further magnified through art – creating, discussing, collaborating, learning and teaching. I have been privileged to have great mentors, teachers and friends; to continue to share this with a new generation of artists, students and viewers is fantastic.”
Brewer described this exhibition as “a very selfish show.”
“I made most of this stuff for me,” he said. “I wanted to see it and get it out of me. I hope each viewer will take away something personal from the exhibition, whether it's funny, like an inside joke or introspective, or even inspirational.”
Admission to the exhibition, which is sponsored in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts, Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum, is free. Gallery hours are from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.