MEDIA CONTACT: Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu

FAU Presents "Me, Myself & I"
Exhibition to include works of over 30 international artists

BOCA RATON, FL (October 29, 2004) -- Florida Atlantic University's Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters presents "Me, Myself & I," a group exhibition curated by Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo that includes over 30 international artists exploring issues of autobiography and identity through a wide variety of media. The exhibition runs Friday, November 5, 2004 through Saturday, January 29, 2005 in the Schmidt Center Gallery on FAU's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. The exhibition and all related lectures and receptions are free and open to the public.

An opening reception will be held Friday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a gallery talk featuring the curators and visiting artists in the exhibition at 6:30 p.m. In addition, Diana Shpungin and Nicole Engelmann, two artists who have collaborated on a video installation in the show, will give a lecture on their work on Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. in General Classroom South, Room 118 on the FAU Boca Raton campus.

"Me, Myself & I" presents a lively selection of contemporary work made over the past five years by a group of emerging and recognizable artists who are investigating the historically rich realm of self-portraiture. They confront issues of self-identity and transformation, appearance and role-playing, race and gender, and reality and myth as both the subject and the creator. With the uncanny ability to inhabit characters that reveal the masks we all wear, these artists comment on the power of images to shape identity while exposing the allegorical nature of art.

Using sculptural pieces such as a bobble-head doll, a stylishly-dressed piñata figure and a warped clone, these artists use themselves as a means to comment on social status, culture and our moment in time. Other examples of ways in which the artists comment on our culture are paintings of a rock star, clown and nymphet; photographs updating art history, addressing stereotypes and simulating mass media; and videos exploring psychological states of mind.

Artists in the exhibition, each exhibiting their seminal work, are Derrick Adams, Natalia Benedetti, Slater Bradley, Meg Cranston, Megan Cump, Richard Dupont, Anthony Goicolea, Julie Heffernan, Zhang Huan, Sofia Hultén, Carol Irving, Sissel Kardel, Shin-il Kim, Nikki S. Lee, Nina Levy, Tony Matelli, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Dave McKenzie, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Jessica Rohrer, Aïda Ruilova, Tomoko Sawada, Diana Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann, Guy Richards Smit, Josh Smith, Zak Smith, Mickalene Thomas, Mette Tommerup, Ken Weaver and Sherry Wong.

Guest curators Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo are former adjunct curators of photography at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. Laster is art editor at flavorpill.net, senior editor at "Art Asia Pacific" and a contributing writer at "Art in America" and "Tema Celeste." Riccardo is an independent curator and consultant who directed ARENA, a gallery exhibiting emerging artists from 1991-2003. She founded ARENA Projects in 2004 to organize exhibitions for galleries and institutions.

The Schmidt Center Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. The gallery will be closed for holidays/semester break from December 18, 2004 through January 4, 2005. Group tours are encouraged and can be arranged at alternative hours. The University Galleries 2004/05 programs are made possible in part by Bank of America; the Palm Beach Cultural Council; Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; the Florida Arts Council; the National Endowment for the Arts; FAU Student Government, through student activity fees; and contributions from Friends of the University Galleries. For further information, please call the University Galleries at 561-297-2966 or visit www.fau.edu/galleries.

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