Kevin Concannon

Artist Liz Fiedorek studied Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech as an undergrad at a time when art classes were open to all. She took full advantage of those opportunities and, with an Art Minor added to her credentials, ultimately made a career in the art world. Among the artists whose work she represented in New York galleries were Mark Rothko, Richard Diebenkorn, and Adolph Gottlieb.When, many years later, Fiedorek began creating and exhibiting her own photography, those images resonated with her, and these formative experiences are reflected in her current work. Looking at Fiedorek’s Red Sun (2018), for example, Gottlieb’s canvases come immediately to mind. In the truest sense of the word, abstraction refers to the essence of something larger and more concrete. The artist explains: “Nature is the driving force of my inspiration. I am awed by the purity, mutability and power of the natural world. I try to express this in my photographs. To me the natural world is composed of visual abstractions. My larger pieces often are compared to Abstract paintings. Of late, they are influenced by Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting and Minimalism.”

Presented in conjunction with the Moss Arts Center’s immersive screening of Minter’s Smash (2014), Splash! Features three works exploring Minter’s interest in the fictions and facades of women’s fashion as well as her fascination with the sensual qualities of paint itself and the human impulse for pleasure. Shit-kicker (2006) was commissioned by Creative Time, as one of several billboards by the artist located throughout Chelsea, New York’s gallery district as part of a 2006 public art project. The model’s bejeweled feet, shorn in expensive high heeled shoes, speak at once of high fashion and privilege as well as the gritty reality of the urban environment of New York City. Mud splashes against the woman’s feet and calves provoking visceral reactions that careen between desire, pleasure, and disgust, a theme manifest in the videos as well. Minter has one foot herself in the world of fashion photography, having worked herself on editorial assignments for major fashion brands. Green Pink Caviar (2009) stands among those works created in the interstices between fine art and fashion, having been produced as part of a photo shoot for MAC Cosmetics. While shooting images of models licking candy off a glass table (for eye makeup ads), she was inspired to videotape in between makeup changes for the stills, ultimately shooting video from under the table. For the video, the models pushed silver candies around in a pool of cake decorating syrups and vodka, painting with their tongues, shot in a style reminiscent of Hans Namuth’s iconic under-glass films of Jackson Pollock painting. Playpen (2014) extends this sensibility, using a room full of babies behind a glass wall, ecstatically splashing in a pool of non-toxic silver paint over the course of twenty minutes. Their visceral delight expresses their innocent pleasure, as they create abstract patterns on the glass. All three projects have been prominently shown in public, commercial contexts as well as in galleries. Green Pink Caviar was screened not only on MTV’s Times Square screen, but on Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet concert tour that year. Playpen was screened on giant outdoor kiosk at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

An exhibition of photographs documenting Black musical culture in Boston and New York between 1971 and 1974.

Willie Cole Bottle Stacks, 2018 Artist Willie Cole spent Sustainability Week 2018 in residence with faculty and students at Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies, developing the Bottle Stacks project in front of the Media Building on Draper Road. Known since the 1990s for his innovative work with discarded steam irons, bicycle parts, blow dryers and shoes, Cole began working with recycled water bottles more recently. Skilled at creating beautiful artworks with abandoned objects and creating beauty from the detritus of contemporary civilization, he has long maintained a sustainable art practice. Cole has consistently imbued his work with spiritual content as well, noting in this case that “discarded bottles contain discarded spirits, and they accumulate and reincarnate as light!” Evoking the Haystacks of Claude Monet, light reflecting through the bottles at different times of day, suggest the shifting light of Impressionist painting. The project, sponsored by the College, Virginia Tech Facilities, the Black Cultural Center and ICAT remains on view throughout the Fall 2018 semester.

Moss Arts Center, April 26-June 6, 2018. Photos by Pippi Miller for the Moss.

Tenth anniversary show at Akron, featuring pieces that had been added along the tour, but not in the original show.

Armory Gallery, Virginia Tech, October 18-November 5, 2016. Photos by DongSoo Choi.

September 24-October 11, 2014

eighth venue

Armory Art Gallery, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, October 25-November 22, 2013. Photos by DongSoo Choi.

Armory Art Gallery (September 1- - October 1, 2013) featuring My Mommy is Beautiful and Cut Piece.

seventh venue Photos by Jared Ladia for the Taubman Museum of Art

sixth venue

fifth venue

fourth venue

at the McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 2008

third venue

second venue

Yoko Ono Imagine Peace featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace, opening venue.

at The University of Akron