AN ONLINE ART PLATFORM AND EXHIBITION SPACE
RUN BY THE STUDIO ART MFA CANDIDATES
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
PROP THE DOOR
To leave a door propped open is to invite others in, to open oneself to being vulnerable. COVID-era realities have resulted in perhaps-permanent changes to our understandings of openness and vulnerability, and necessitated new conceptions of safety, community, and work.
The works displayed investigate the shapes of our current reality, and ways of existing within it.
Prop the Door is the inaugural show and launch of TheSouthStudios.com, a new online art platform and virtual exhibition space run by the Studio MFA graduate students. Traditionally, the annual Fall Studio MFA Group Exhibition features the work of second and third-year students. But this year, we are excited to also include the work of our two new graduate students: Abigail Holcombe and Kendra Ward.
While social distancing considerations don't allow for us to physically invite you in our art studios, this digital exhibition is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, friends, and family to see what we are creating in this moment.
Organized by Sydney Vize, Salem Turchan, and Jake Foster.
Exhibiting Artists: Emmaly Crimmel, Jake Foster, Nathan Grimes, Katherine Hair, Abigail Holcombe, E. Ainsley, Paul Kenneth, Conor Murphy, Tamar Segev, Salem Turchan, Sydney Vize, Kendra Ward
AN HONEST GRID
Abigail Holcombe, 2020
felt, acrylic paint, yarn, embroidery floss, rolled paper, paper, spray foam insulation, linen, chewing gum, tulle
AN HONEST GRID (DETAIL)
UNTITLED 2 (COLLECTOR SERIES)
Conor Murphy, 2020
oil on canvas
UNTITLED 1 (COLLECTOR SERIES)
Conor Murphy, 2020
oil on canvas
UNTITLED
Kendra Ward, 2020
digital photograph
HORSE-GIRL
Paul Kenneth, 2020
graphite and oil on denim
ACCRETION, OSCILLATION, EXCAVATION
Nathan Grimes, 2020
welded mild steel, construction foam, sand, acrylic paint, spray paint
ACCRETION, OSCILLATION, EXCAVATION
(DETAIL)
WHERE HAVE ALL THE HIGH HEELS GONE AND WILL WE EVER HEAR THEM AGAIN
Emmaly J. Crimmel & Michael A. Collins, 2020
WHERE HAVE ALL THE HIGH HEELS GONE AND WILL WE EVER HEAR THEM AGAIN
BOUND (DETAIL)
BOUND
Abigail Holcombe, 2020
yarn, knitted fiber, beads, paper, embroidery floss, burlap, styrofoam, cotton, acrylic paint
THE EQUESTRIAN
Paul Kenneth, 2020
acrylic, collaged jeans, oil, and twine on denim
LIMANOWSKIEGO 48, BAŁUTY, ŁÓDŹ, POLAND JUNE 2, 2019
Tamar Segev, 2020
charcoal, graphite, pastel, and oil on canvas
LIMANOWSKIEGO 48, BAŁUTY, ŁÓDŹ, POLAND JUNE 2, 2019 (DETAIL)
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
E. Ainsley, 2020
salvaged drywall, paper pulp, slip, crayon, tape, incense, found photographs, hematite, gel pen, sushi grass, joint compound, quartz, exterior paint peeled from buildings and curbs
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN (DETAIL)
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN (DETAIL)
FUMIGATION TENT
Sydney Vize, 2020
plastic, PVC, vellum
FUMIGATION TENT
TERRA FIRMA
Nathan Grimes, 2020
mild steel, construction foam, sand, acrylic paint, spray paint
TERRA FIRMA (DETAIL)
PRE-ZOOMIES
FROM THE SERIES WHY ARE THE CATS SEXY?
Salem H. Turchan, 2020
digital drawing
FALSE ADOLESCENCE
FROM THE SERIES WHY ARE THE CATS SEXY?
Salem H. Turchan, 2020
digital drawing
BRO
FROM THE SERIES WHY ARE THE CATS SEXY?
Salem H. Turchan, 2020
digital drawing
NESTED
Abigail Holcombe, 2020
knitted fiber, yarn, beads, burlap, embroidery floss, wire, acrylic paint, tule, paper, glitter, crotched fiber, quilted fiber, graphite, chiffon, spray foam insulation, brick, nails
NESTED (DETAIL)
INTIMATE DISTANCE
Jake Foster, 2020
hand-made leather upholstery, iPad, 1 hour video performance.
INTIMATE DISTANCE (DETAIL)
WEBCAM READING CLUB #1
Jake Foster, 2020
digital screen capture, 2 hour performance livestreamed on chaturbate reading excerpts from texts including: The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, Camming: Money, Power, and Pleasure in the Sex Work Industry (2020) by Angela Jones, and Porn Archives (2015) Introduction by Tim Dean
THIS IS ONE WAY IT COULD BE
Katherine Hair, 2020
stick, mason twine, bear
THIS IS ONE WAY IT COULD BE (DETAIL)
A HORSE IS A HORSE UNLESS OF COURSE
Paul Kenneth, 2020
graphite on paper
LIMEN LIME
Nathan Grimes, 2020
digital video 4 minutes 55 seconds
I AM SITTING IN A ROOM (VOID)
E. Ainsley, 2020
cardboard, paper pulp, gel pen, prehnite on epidote, acrylic, paper
I AM SITTING IN A ROOM (VOID) (DETAIL)
If you enjoyed this exhibition, feel welcome to sign our guestbook, comment below, and share on social media. Thank you!
Photographs of the doorstops found in the graduate art studios by Jake Foster