Linda Joanou’s “Beyond Metal” Kicks Off McCray Season

The opening reception for Linda Joanou's "Beyond Metal," the exhibit kicking off the WNMU McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art 2022-23 season.

© Western New Mexico University

Western New Mexico University McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art opened the 2022-23 season this week with “Beyond Metal” by metal artist Linda Joanou. Designed to showcase diverse artists working in a variety of media, the gallery’s 2022-23 season boasts exhibits by up-and-coming artists and features work by names such as Salvador Dalí.

This fall’s first installment of the WNMU Cultural Affairs Edwina and Charles Milner Women in the Arts Lecture and Exhibit Series, this show brings metal sculptures of bronze, copper, and steel together with a hanging array of recycled bicycle tires to create a whimsical and inspiring installation. Joanou will lecture in Light Hall Auditorium at 6 p.m. A reception at the gallery will follow. “Beyond Metal” will hang until Thursday, October 6.

Renowned artist-activist Shirley Klinghoffer’s “CRT Revisited” will open at WNMU McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art on Thursday, October 20. Inspired by the hospital armatures used as supports for women’s bodies during radiation therapy, the 18 glass sculptures make up one of the sculptor’s explorations of contemporary social issues. Following the WNMU Cultural Affairs Edwina and Charles Milner Women in the Arts Series format, Klinghoffer will lecture in Light Hall Auditorium at 6 p.m., and the reception and exhibit opening will take place at 7 p.m. in the gallery. “CRT Revisited” will hang through November 17.

The gallery will be host to lecture by Sonia Coman-Ernstoff on Thursday, November 11. Then, WNMU McCray Gallery will wrap up the fall 2022 semester with an exhibit featuring the work of Bachelor of Fine Arts student Yen Chu. That show will open on Monday, November 28, and run through Friday, December 9.

In the spring 2023 semester, WNMU McCray Gallery will unveil works from the WNMU Permanent Collection. “Pen, Pencil, and Print” is a glimpse into the extensive WNMU Permanent Art Collection with a focus on original works on paper including pieces famed artists whose art found its way to a remote New Mexico campus. From lithograph prints to pen and ink and pencil drawings, this show puts on exhibit just a small sample of some incredible works of art by local, national, and international artists. The opening reception will be on Thursday, January 26, and the exhibit will run through Thursday, February 16.

In March, the WNMU Expressive Arts Juried Student Show will give tomorrow’s top artists an opportunity to experience hanging and exhibiting their work and also give community members an occasion to view work by undergraduates, who’ve trained under practicing faculty artists in the WNMU program. In similar fashion, graduating Bachelor in Fine Arts Students will then exhibit their work at WNMU McCray Gallery from April 13 through May 4.
Gallery hours and a the full season schedule are available here.

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