Memphis Artist's Exhibit Opens at Bobick Gallery

The University of West Georgia Department of Art’s Bobick Gallery is pleased to present Memphis-based artist, Cynthia Thompson’s exhibit, Forlorn.

Thompson uses the body as the site of personal investigation. She explores the physical manifestations of denial, shame and oppression by examining issues surrounding the female body. Her meticulously crafted work utilizes hand bookbinding, digital photography, screen-printing, letterpress and relief.

The exhibition opens on Jan. 12 and ends on Feb. 9. There will be an artist talk on Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m. in room 203 of UWG’s Humanities building. A reception in the gallery will follow at 4:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

Thompson’s work contains strong religious undertones and has often been described as “Catholic” in nature and aesthetic— clean, pure, and ordered. At the same time, many of the surfaces and materials used in her work simulate flesh to evoke the body, an alluring and seductive association of great significance.

In particular, Thompson shares her own experiences as a young woman raised in the religious South. In her newly produced body of work, she continues this investigation. But the focus has become of the aesthetic and the process— technique, pattern, place and content, and the historical made contemporary. She addresses her own concerns with beauty, desire, vulnerability, veiling, and body-centered guilt. In aligning herself with Hamlet’s drowning Ophelia, Thompson metaphorically succumbs to the cold blue waters breathlessly searching for redemption as the voice of her soul is silenced.

Thompson lives in Memphis, Tenn. She is the chair of the Fine Arts Department at Memphis College of Art and a professor of book and paper arts. Thompson has also been a visiting faculty member at University of Georgia’s study abroad program in Cortona, Italy. She was the recipient of the 2003 Tennessee State Arts Commission Fellowship Grant and has been awarded numerous residencies.

The Bobick Gallery is on the first floor of the Humanities building on the UWG campus. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery is closed during university holidays. Parking is available in the visitor lot on West Georgia Drive, across from the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts or in the academic quad lot after 5:30 p.m.

For more information contact Stephanie Smith, the gallery director, at 678-839-4950 or 678-839-6521, slsmith@westga.edu, www.westga.edu/~artdept.