June 7, 1999 Volume 21, No. 16

"Out of Mexico" to Open at the Handwerker Gallery Offering its first summer exhibit in six years, the Handwerker Gallery is presenting Out of Mexico, an installation with photographs and video by Nicoletta Kalatha and Tania M. Sãmano Palacios. An opening reception will be held Thursday, June 24, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. A talk with the artists will take place Wednesday, July 7, at noon, with a video screening scheduled for Wednesday, July 21, at 8:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. The gallery will be open for Out of Mexico Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., until August 24. The artists, both 1999 graduates of the College, have assembled color and black-and-white photographs with images created with alternative photographic processes, video, and built structures to reflect an artistic representation of a variety of themes present in the culture of Mexico. "The goal of the exhibit is to open the way we see other cultures — not as stereotypes, but very rich and complex," said Jelena Stojanovic, gallery director and assistant professor of art history. Sãmano Palacios, a native of Mexico City, and Kalatha, who was born in Cyprus, recently traveled through Mexico together. They have portrayed their impressions of that journey in a variety of ways. In one room of the gallery, for example, a series of 16" x 20" black-and-white images depicts a 360-degree panorama of the main plaza of Teotihuacán, a pre-Columbian pyramid com- plex. Accompanying these images is a construction of a fountain/pyramid that mimics the archi-tectural structure of an archaeological site. In another room a montage of images created with various photographic techniques evokes the visual structure of a rural home altar. On the walls adjacent to the montage are two mural-sized black-and-white photographs produced with digitally manipulated negatives. Approximately 30 variously sized color images of Mexico fill a third room in the gallery. Before graduating from the College with a bachelor’s degree in cinema and photography, Sãmano Palacios studied art history at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. She has participated in several group exhibitions and had two individual shows in 1996, Chiapas, on Constitutional Rights at the Universidad Iberoamericana and The Fasting or Act of Acrobacy at the Leon Trotsky Museum in Mexico City. In addition, she has curated and organized independent art colloquiums and shows in Mexico City. Kalatha, a Fulbright scholar who graduated magna cum laude with a B.F.A. in film, photography, and visual arts, was named the outstanding B.F.A. student. She previously earned a degree in elementary school teaching from the Pedagogical Academy in Cyprus. This year she has exhibited her work in two group shows, A Sliver of Silver at the Clinton House Artspace in Ithaca and the Annual Senior Student Exhibition at the Handwerker Gallery. She had her first solo show, A Portrait of a Self, at the Oak in Ithaca. Out of Mexico is the first summer exhibit at the Handwerker Gallery since 1993. "Ithaca attracts visitors and travelers and people attending conferences and seminars during the summer," Stojanovic said. "That’s a national public. By keeping the gallery open all year long, we hope to create a sense of openness and availability. That’s extremely important in trying to increase the gallery’s visibility." For more information call the gallery at 274-3018 or contact Stojanovic at 274-3548.