Skip to main content

May 8th- July 18th, 2015

In honor of the 10th anniversary, the Rubin Center keeps the tradition of hosting an exhibition by alumni during the Annual Juried UTEP Student Art Exhibition in the Project Space. This time, we have chosen to honor five UTEP alumni and former Rubin Center interns that have each achieved their own success in their respective media. The selected artists are: Luis Nieto Dickens, Arturo Molinar, Andres Payan, Xochitl Rodriguez and Karina Tovar.

Each of these artists utilizes various media that play on the senses of their audience in numerous ways. In Here Hear, Karina Tovar uses a megaphone with audio and video to question the National Security Agency’s constant surveillance. When looking into the megaphone one sees a close up video of an eye, and hears a voice saying ‘I am watching you.’ Xochitl Rodriguez’s Made of Memory is an action that utilizes thread to weave an object that both protects and traps her. She also explores the bonds women have with memory through the text on scrolls. Arturo Molinar’s Vajazzle series were part of a larger installation-based performance. When the work is worn on the body, it allows Molinar to create an alternate persona by addressing the fascination and anxiety with sexuality. Luis Nieto Dickens’ Punk Love is a documentation capturing the essence and mood of the people attending the Afro Punk Fest in Brooklyn, New York. Andres Payan’s Awards and Rewards aims to materialize not only the history and memory in a father-son relationship, but also the set of expectations and experiences that are lost and heightened during the process of mourning and self-realization of one’s own mortality. All of these artists return to the Rubin Center to share their current art practice, and their accomplishments within their respective fields.