IRWIN SCHOLARS 2014
Reception: Wednesday, May 28, 5–7:00pm
Awards ceremony 6pm at Porter College koi pond
Irwin Scholars:
David Berry, Will Brady, Maytal Gotesman, Courtney Hanson, Eric Harrod, Sonja Holopainen, Joshua Hurwitz, Althea James, Jasen Levoy, Elliott Taylor, Stephanie Toro and Cary Wander
In this age of hyper-connection and mass surveillance, personal and collective identity are both increasingly destabilized and further policed. Social media and the saturation of image-making in our society present a plethora of ideal, imagined identities to aspire to, yet imply our own are inadequate. Appropriately, many of this years’ Irwin Scholars interrogate this contradiction, using historical and cutting-edge mediums to redefine and complicate identity.
This year’s Irwin Scholars ask visitors to evaluate their own assumptions about identity; their work promises to undercut stereotype and the control of media, and to take back the agency to define self through art process. A highly diverse range of mediums will be present, offering a great deal of energy and variety. The Scholars are currently hard at work finishing their projects and coordinating the coming show, and look forward to an exciting and dynamic exhibition.
Sesnon Gallery’s annual Irwin Scholarship Award exhibition showcases some of UCSC’s most promising young artists working in painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, installation. social practice and digital media. The William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship Fund was established in 1986, generating annual merit scholarships to further the education of selected UC Santa Cruz art students.