ARTNAUTS: DIASPORA AND MOVEMENT

February 10 – May 13, 2016

Sandy Brunvand, Beth Krensky and V. Kim Martinez are the Utah members of the international artist collective, Artnauts. Founded in 1996 by five artists, including Krensky, the Artnauts have had 226 exhibitions in 19 countries since their inception.

Header image: Tashlich (still), Beth Krensky

The collective uses the arts as a tool for addressing global issues while connecting artists from around the world. The group has exhibited work in museum, university, gallery and public spaces on four continents and has captured the attention of art critics both in the United States and internationally. The work of the collective is rooted in an engaged practice that draws from Joseph Beuys’ construct of “social sculpture,” Paulo Freire’s “conscientization” or critical consciousness and Nina Felshin’s definition of “activist art.”  The collective has worked at the intersection of critical consciousness and contemporary artistic practice to impact change for two decades.

This exhibition highlights the work of Artnauts residing in Utah, all of whom create work that addresses larger issues impacting people and places. The work shown here makes use of ritual, varied media, imagery and three unique approaches to studio practice to explore the meaning of movement, broadly defined.

Beth Krensky and V. Kim Martinez’ work explores diaspora. Merriam Webster defines diaspora as “the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland.”

Martinez physically traversed routes used by Mexican/Native American migrants for thousands of years along the now United States and Mexico border to inform her work.  7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back is the result of her physically and emotionally strenuous journey that ties together her familial history with a larger narrative of migration and borders.