‘Digital Obscura’ Exhibit Opens at UA’s Paul R. Jones Gallery

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Art students in an advanced digital photography course at The University of Alabama have gained “real world” experience by curating an exhibit of their own original works.

The exhibit, “Digital Obscura,” will be displayed through Dec.16 at the Paul R. Jones Gallery in downtown Tuscaloosa. The gallery is managed by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held today from 5-7p.m. in the gallery, located at 2308 6^th St. in downtown Tuscaloosa.

The title, “Digital Obscura,” is a play on the term camera obscura, an optical device that was the precursor to the modern camera.The works featured in “Digital Obscura” explore a wide range of conceptual, technical and aesthetic approaches to photography.

The previous exhibit at the Jones Gallery included works by Sheila Pree Bright, a noted photographer represented in the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art, and it was also curated by the same students.

“The students studied Bright’s various projects so they could better situate the pieces from the Paul Jones Collection in a proper context,” said Chris Jordan, an assistant professor in the department of art and art history who teaches the advanced digital photography course.

“It can be difficult when pieces are shown outside of their original context, so a narrative had to be formed to acknowledge the intent of the original projects, while forming a new coherent statement.”

Students were also given the opportunity to work closely with Bright when she visited the UA campus in October. She offered the students critiques of their work, some of which will be on display in “Digital Obscura.”

According to Jordan, all of the works in the exhibit are unified by being produced in a digital medium. But, beyond that, they are diverse and reflect the individual interests of the artists.Themes include fabricated realities, stroboscopic techniques, cultural critique, expressive documentary, abstraction and experimental printing processes, such as digital inkjet transfers.

“This exhibit presents an exciting snapshot of the extremely varied practices that are possible in photography today,” he said.

Students whose work will be displayed include Drew Hoover, a senior from Montgomery; Cayce Savage, a sophomore from Huntsville; Brittany Simon, a senior from Odenville; and John Michael Simpson, a junior from Homewood. Works by art graduate students Nikki March, from Clermont, Fla; Mari Müller, from Argentina; and Andrew Pruett, from Atlanta, Ga. are also included.

Hours for the Paul R. Jones Gallery are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday 12- 5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. on First Thursday art nights each month. The gallery honors the late Paul R. Jones who, during his lifetime, amassed one of the largest collections of African American art and donated 1,700 pieces of his collection, valued at $4.8 million, to UA in 2008.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.