The UIS Visual Arts Gallery has returned with yet another display of artistry. This semester’s exhibition “Duet” opened on January 19 and will stay in the spotlight until February 25.

            “Duet” presents a new installation of video, print and sculptural works by Chicago-based artists Shir Ende and Max Guy. The two have worked collaboratively and individually to consider the ways in which movement and figure are translated across media and dimensions. Swiss-based artist and writer Brit Barton encapsulated the mixed media exhibit accordingly: “Bodies are amorphous, used as a means of content and production. Space—domestic and institutional—is toyed with, conjured, and navigated.”

The Visual Arts Gallery is one of the hidden gems on campus. “The gallery benefits the Illinois art community and our university students by increasing public awareness of the visual arts,” Jeffrey Robinson, the gallery’s director, explained. “Our free exhibitions and receptions provide students the opportunity to engage directly with the artists to find out more about their work and the underlying motivations and influences that direct their art-making process.”

Everyone seems to have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the UIS Visual Arts Gallery is no different. Limited hours and capacity protocol have been part of a common theme. However, the Visual Arts Gallery used the pandemic for inspiration last semester with the exhibition “Untied.”

            “Untied” is described as “giving shape to an exhibition that is experimental in nature and that encourages uncertainty and builds upon it, in pursuit of intentionally unclear outcomes.” A closer look at this exhibition can be found here.

            A virtual open house featuring the exhibition’s artists will be available to the general public and students alike on February 19. Also, the Visual Arts Gallery is now open Monday through Wednesday from 12 to 5 p.m. Appointments are preferred by the gallery, and masks are required.

For more information on what the UIS Visual Arts Gallery has to offer, visit their homepage.

Fund That Supports the Visual Arts Gallery – Office of Advancement – University of Illinois Springfield – UIS