Opening Reception: Saturday July 8, 2006, 6PM to 9PM

Dates: Exhibition Open 7/9/2006 through 7/30/2006
Gallery Hours: Fridays & Saturdays 12 to 7PM, Sundays

Location:
Armory Northwest/965
965 N. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena, CA
626-792-5101 x122

Directions: From the 210 Freeway in Pasadena, exit at Fair Oaks. Go north (uphill, toward the mountains.)
Map.
Armory Northwest website.

Free parking.

About the Exhibition

The CalArts 2006 MFAs and the Armory Center for the Arts present Collisions and Pileups: CalArts 2006 MFA Graduate Exhibition at Armory Northwest/965. The exhibition celebrates this year's graduate students in the Program in Art, the Program in Photography & Media, and the Center for Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The opening will take place at Armory Northwest/965 located at 965 N. Fair Oaks, Pasadena, on Saturday, July 8, 6 - 9 p.m. The exhibition is on view through July 30th.

Collisions and Pileups features recent work by 27 CalArts graduate students offering a look into the artistic concerns and methodologies of these emerging artists. The exhibition's title evokes the dynamic and interdisciplinary approaches of the institution at which these artists have developed their artistic practices. The artistic quality, innovation and critical reflection is what ultimately links the works in the exhibition.

The title of the show, "Collisions and Pileups," is a reference to the kinds of encounters between people and cultures that are not uncommon today in the world at large, in a city or in a small graduate program. "Collisions and Pileups" alludes to the power of accident to create change and suggests the point of collision as a space of possibility. As a group of people thrown together by chance, the MFA class of 2006 has created a show that reflects their diversity, and the lasting impressions of their encounters. These independent-minded, highly motivated students represent the next wave of artists, pushing into new territories in a multitude of artistic mediums-painting and drawing, installation, video, photography, sculpture, performance, sound and multimedia.

Students featured in the exhibition are: Cathy Akers, Vivian Babuts, Cindy Santos Bravo, Julia Brown, Enrique Castrejon, Ilknur Demirkoparan, Bradney Evans, Diego J. Garza, Hilary Graves, Alyssa Gorelick, Trulee Grace Hall, D. Jean Hester, John P. Hogan, Max Maslansky, Wendy Mason, Juanita Meneses, TV Moore, Carter Mull, Nikhil Murthy, Claudia Parducci, Eron Rauch, Robert Russell, Dani Shane, Jan Smail, Yanai Toister, Luke Turner, Louisa Van Leer.

The exhibition is open to the public Friday and Saturday, Noon - 7 p.m. and Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m. Admission is free.

CalArts School of Art
The CalArts School of Art's programs actively promote both the creative environment and the intellectual context for inter-disciplinary artistic experimentation. The School's programs prepare graduates to thoughtfully challenge the prevailing conventions of artistic expression, develop new forms, and become innovators and leaders in their chosen fields. Committed to artistic innovation and intellectual rigor, CalArts' programs emphasize critical thinking about art in terms of context and use, and strongly encourage work that challenges established ideas. Notable CalArts alumni include Sam Durant, Mike Kelley, Liz Larner, Daniel Martinez, Dave Muller, Matt Mullican, Catherine Opie, Rubén Ortiz-Torres, Tony Oursler, Laura Owens, Lari Pittman, David Salle, and James Welling among many others.

Armory Center for the Arts
The Armory Center for the Arts' mission is to offer innovative approaches to creating exploring, and presenting the visual arts. In addition to providing an outlet for contemporary art exhibitions and performances, the Armory offers studio art classes and a variety of educational outreach programs to schools and in the community. The Armory has been a leader in the field of art education since 1947 when it began as the education department of the Pasadena Art Museum. When the museum closed in 1974, the education program became the Pasadena Art Workshops, today known as the Armory Center for the Arts. For more information about the Armory visit www.armoryarts.org.

Exhibition programs at Armory Northwest/965 are made possible by the generosity of The Annenberg Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Los Angeles County Cultural Affairs Commission, the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division and the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission, and members and friends of the Armory Center for the Arts. Additional support for this exhibition was provided by CalArts, Side Street Projects, the Armory, the CalArts President's Office, the George and MaryLou Boone Fund for Artistic Advancement.

Press Contacts
Margaret Crane (CalArts), 661-222-2787, mcrane@calarts.edu
Sophia Bicos (Armory Center for the Arts), 626-792-5101 x134, sbicos@armoryarts.org
D. Jean Hester (Student Representative), 818-209-1778, show@divestudio.org

IMAGES FOR PUBLICATION ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST BY CONTACTING SOPHIA BICOS, (626) 792-5101 x 134, OR sbicos@armoryarts.org