They work with their hands — 10 fingers smudging, scraping, filing and brushing some of their last marks as UF students. These drawing seniors, graduating this Spring from the College of Fine Arts, are joining together before they depart, pooling their pieces for an art exhibition.
As part of their senior projects, the artists are supposed to present an individual gallery by the end of the semester for people to see.
On Friday from 7 to 9 p.m., the WARPhaus Gallery, located at 534 SW Fourth Ave., will host the exhibit “Teaser: An Advanced Drawing Group Exhibition.”
“Teaser” is a preview show, which aims to get the community excited for the individual galleries in April. The exhibit will run until Feb. 6.
Marla Rosen, the 21-year-old UF sculpture senior who is curating the exhibition, said this teaser is somewhat of a tradition in the college. It also provides an avenue for the artists who haven’t shown their work in a gallery to get additional experience.
Each senior in the exhibition is bringing one piece to the preview exhibit, and Rosen is providing zines with an artist Q&A so visitors can flip through them and get a better understanding of the work presented.
Zac Thompson, a 21-year-old UF drawing senior in the show, said the exhibition unofficially coincides with Art Walk Gainesville. And although the show includes only drawing majors, it’s not a themed show.
“All of our work is really different,” he said. “There should be something there for everyone.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 1/30/2014 under the headline "Drawing seniors tease end-of-year show"]
Dounia Bendris, a 21-year-old UF drawing senior, doesn’t like hard lines in her work, so she uses her fingers to smear her charcoal drawings. With black-stained hands, her fingerprints create a shadow and light effect. She dips her fingers into a water jug to seal the charcoal when she’s satisfied with an area.
Lily King, a 21-year-old UF drawing senior, draws anatomical figures she saw in various medical textbooks. She uses a micron pen to illustrate her mad scientist collages, and her work “Contained” will be featured in Friday’s exhibition.
Domenic Henderson, a 21-year-old UF drawing senior, doesn’t use an eraser when he draws with a black colored pencil because he likes the idea that he can’t make a mistake. He said his art tells an autobiographical narrative, and he always starts his work drawing the left eye of his subject. He is influenced by Chinese symbolism and nephelococcygia — the art of watching shapes in clouds.
