MECA: ICA Past Exhibitions

Site Map Search

2007

Anthromorph

August 29 to October 7, 2007
Anthromorph was a juried exhibition exploring aspects of transformation using the human form as both mediator and metaphor. (Read the review of the show from the September 23 Portland Press Herald.)

The works in this exhibition examine physical and psychological implications of bodily interaction in ways that are playful, poetic, and disturbing. Each artist posits not just the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects, but re-envisions a world where the boundaries between objects and humans are mapped quite differently.

Anthromorph highlights new bodies of work by four alumni from MECA's Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts programs. Vivian Beer BFA ’00, Brian DeRosia MFA ’05, Barbara Rita Jenny MFA ‘02, and Natalie Larsen BFA ‘04.

Sculptor and furniture designer Vivian Beer creates hybrid forms where function and fantasy alter the outlines of familiar ergonomics. Beer holds an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and is currently a Resident Artist at Penland School of Craft.

Brian DeRosia’s Drawing Machines reveal conversations between man, machine, and landscape in kinetic cooperation with modes of travel. DeRosia has a studio in Portland and is a frequent collaborator with the art collective spurse.

Barbara Rita Jenny’s immersive SkinPrint-ed environments are an examination of new possibilities in sensory perception through the marriage of flesh and digital technology. Jenny has been an art educator at Phillips Exeter Academy and the director of Exeter Center for Creative Arts, as well as a recipient of the National Emerging Artist Award and the NH Artist Advancement Grant.

Painter Natalie Larsen composes narrative portraits where metaphoric reconstruction and spatial dynamics illustrate the transformative qualities of power relationships. Larsen is an instructor of art at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh and holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina.