Two Artists Showcase Sculpture, Photography at UA Gallery

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The artwork of husband-and-wife duo James Rodger Alexander and Pamela Ann Venz will be on display from Thursday, Jan. 5, to Monday, Jan. 30, at The University of Alabama Gallery in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Alexander teaches sculpture at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He will display four of his works consisting largely of steel, wood and marble. Venz, who also has a background in three-dimensional art and photography, will display 11 photographs. She has been teaching photography at Birmingham-Southern College since 1986.

The exhibit, titled “A Shared Individuality,” explores how the couple’s 32 years of shared experiences have been individually interpreted through their artwork. According to the exhibit’s abstract, the variation of their artistic responses is magnified by a 15-year difference in their ages, making them reflections of their own generation.

Alexander was born and raised in Bedford, Ohio, and he received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture from Cornell University. He also received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Louisiana State University. According to his artist’s statement, both his large and small sculptures focus on the resolution of conflict between opposing forces.

Venz was born and raised in Birmingham. She received a bachelor’s degree in sculpture and photography from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1983. In 1985, she received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Ohio State University. Following her education, Venz worked at Birmingham-Southern College, and in 1998 she created the college’s first concentration in photography.

The UA Gallery offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions of artistic works, artifacts, textiles and other media from permanent collections held by UA as well as works by faculty, students and guest artists and designers.

The gallery is at 620 Greensboro Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 8 p.m. on the first Fridays of the month. For more information, call the gallery at 205/345-3038 or 205/342-2060.

The gallery is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Truman, Rhodes and Goldwater scholarships.