Graduating seniors of the University of Memphis' Department of Fine Arts will showcase their talents in an end-of-the-semester exhibition.
"Flat Mates: A View of Eight" will open Nov. 30 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Marshall Arts Gallery located in downtown Memphis at 639 Marshall Ave. The department expects 300 to 400 people at the show.
"Marshall Arts Gallery has had a great relationship with the U of M for several years now," said Anna Roach, primary organizer of the exhibition.
The Gallery was chosen as the venue because it allows students to set up the show over one week and rent a space for one night.
The students participating in the exhibition are seniors in the fine arts program who are graduating in December. The Department of Fine Arts has an exhibition at the end of every semester, and this semester there will be eight participants.
Roach will exhibit 12 paintings in the show. She has made all of the paintings in the past year.
"I was originally inspired by old vintage photos of my family members as young children and how haunting those images are," Roach said.
Her paintings will display a series of children with different identities. Roach said she varied the identities in the old photos of her family and emphasized the commonality of childhood between "familiar, famous and even infamous individuals."
"We chose the theme 'Flat Mates' because most of us have studios here on campus, and there is this communal environment between us since we tend to spend a lot of time in our studios," Roach said.
The artists in the show will exhibit themes that explore space, the body, systems of control, lack of control of one's environment, memory and obsession.
Roach said some of them have been invited to exhibit their work in commercial galleries and others will be going to graduate school.
