The Department of Art at UNM is proud to share that Sarah Bennett-Davidson, an MFA student at the University of New Mexico, has been featured in a recent Albuquerque Journal article reviewed by Logan Royce Beitmen.
“Interference” at Bingo Art Studios and Gallery shows how ideas of the Light and Space movement remain salient for emerging artists. Rather than mimicking the polished “finish fetish” aesthetic, Bennett-Davidson embraces an intentionally raw, DIY approach that is conceptually rich. Using just two video projectors, hand-cut scrims, sound-responsive animations, and the environment of the warehouse, she creates an environment that distorts perception and transforms space into an interactive experience.
“What makes it new is its informality… this illusion of nonchalance is what allows Interference to surprise us,” Beitmen writes. “Because it’s only when our perception of reality distorts and the walls move and shift before our very eyes that the artist’s true brilliance is revealed.”
The work is rooted in avant-garde traditions while pushing their boundaries forward. Drawing from her early studies with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who collaborated with video art pioneer Nam June Paik, Bennett-Davidson brings algorithmic thinking and spatial choreography into her visual art practice. Her collaboration with the Berlin-based NODE Institute further explores computer-generated environments and interactive digital media.
The Department of Art invites everyone to experience “Interference” in person. The exhibition will be up until June 8, 2025.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
READ THE FULL REVIEW in The Albuquerque Journal, by visiting: https://abqjournal-nm.newsmemory.com/?publink=029e9e27e_134f9b8
Southwest Contemporary Vol. 12: Obsession features some incredible work from several of the amazing people who comprise the Art Department. Current second-year MFA students Luka Berkley and Justine Kablack, recent MFA graduate Taylor Engel, and instructor Jessamyn Lovell all have work featured in this most recent issue of Southwest Contemporary.
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
Distinguished Professor Jim Stone is an exhibiting artist who uses photography. His photographs have been published in three monographs and exhibited internationally; they are represented in the permanent collections of over 30 major museums and public archives.
