Multimedia Art Event Explores the FOLD

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Multimedia Art Event Explores the FOLD

A close-up of an interactive installation by Laleh Mehran, whose work has been in exhibitions around the world. (lalehmehran.com)
A close-up of an interactive installation by Laleh Mehran, whose work has been in exhibitions around the world. (lalehmehran.com)

Exhibit opens Feb. 2

Art that challenges space and time will be the focal point for FOLD: Art, Metaphor and Practice, a series of art exhibits, lectures and live performances over the next two months in McAllen and Edinburg. Artwork by 13 women artists will converge in what is described as a presentation of works that explore the concept of the fold in terms of form and conceptual metaphor in both stationary and time-based art media.

“This is my most ambitious curatorial project and I’m confident enough to claim its curatorial uniqueness, aesthetic and complexity,” said Raheleh Filsoofi, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley assistant professor in ceramics and exhibition curator. “This one-of-a-kind project dives into the theme of women and society through its diverse catalogue.”

Exhibits

UTRGV and McAllen’s International Museum of Art & Science collaborated to organize the art event. FOLD opens at the International Museum of Art & Science in McAllen Feb. 2 with a talk by artist and University of Denver professor Laleh Mehran at 5:30 p.m. An opening reception then follows from 6-8 p.m.

Mehran will speak on “Calculations to Enfold: conversation with the artist and curator.” Mehran, along with artists Sibel Kocabasi, Giannina Coppaino Dwin and Naja Marais, will be the featured artists in the first exhibition that opens at IMAS that same day and runs through April 1.

Artist Giannina Coppaino Dwin works in a variety of mediums, including creating three-dimensional images using salt and sugar. (gianninadwin.com)
Artist Giannina Coppaino Dwin works in a variety of mediums, including creating three-dimensional images using salt and sugar. (gianninadwin.com)

Artists Linda Behar and Isabel Gouveia, as well as Rojhaneh Hosseini, Dorotha Grace Lemeh and Amber Scoon will exhibit at the UTRGV Visual Art Gallery, 2412 South Closner Road in Edinburg, from Feb. 15 to March 29. A reception takes place Feb. 22 from 6-8 p.m.

A third exhibition will be housed at the UTRGV Visitors Center, 1201 West University Drive in Edinburg, from Feb. 27 through March 30. This collection will feature artists Misoo Filan, Gulia Huber, Sibel Kocabasi and Golnar Shahyar. A reception is also planned for Feb. 27 from 6-8 p.m.

To complement the FOLD exhibits, flamenco dancer Niurca Marquez and guitarist Jose Luis de la Paz will perform on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex, 1201 West University Drive in Edinburg.

Discussions and lectures

Scheduled lectures include Dr. Riccardo Pizzinato, UTRGV assistant professor of art history, speaking on “Fold as Meaning in Medieval Art” at 4 p.m. on March 8, and Dr. Brian McConnell, professor of art history and classical archaeology at Florida Atlantic University, talking on the subject of “FOLD: Let the Metaphor Reveal,” at 12 p.m. on March 22. Both lectures take placwe at the School of Art on the UTRGV Edinburg campus.

The final lecture will discuss “Luxuries of Trade: Folding Screens in Colonial Latin America” with Dr. Katherine McAllen, UTRGV assistant professor of art history, at 1 p.m. on March 31 at IMAS.

A panel discussion with five UTRGV faculty members will delve into “Unfolding Social Issues” from 5-6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Visitors Center on Feb. 27.

All FOLD events held at the UTRGV campus are free and open to the public. General admission at IMAS includes the events. Events are also free to museum members and UTRG faculty and students with ID.

George Cox is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years experience as a newspaper writer and editor. A Corpus Christi native, he started his career as a reporter for The Brownsville Herald after graduating from Sam Houston State University with a degree in journalism. He later worked on newspapers in Laredo and Corpus Christi as well as northern California. George returned to the Valley in 1996 as editor of The Brownsville Herald and in 2001 moved to Harlingen as editor of the Valley Morning Star. He also held the position of editor and general manager for the Coastal Current, a weekly entertainment magazine with Valleywide distribution. George retired from full-time journalism in 2015 to work as a freelance writer and legal document editor. He continues to live in Harlingen where he and his wife Katherine co-founded Rio Grande Valley Therapy Pets, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the benefits of therapy pets and assisting people and their pets to become registered therapy pet teams.

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