Square Root - Department of Art & Art History - Stanford University

Department of Art & Art History Stanford University Stanford California 94305-2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 19, 2010
Rachel R. Isip, Events and PR Manager, (650) 725-3107, risip@stanford.edu
Digital images available upon request
SQUARE ROOT
Stanford, CA – The Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University is
pleased to present Square Root on view on May 11-June 13, with a reception on May 21,
6-8 PM, at the Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery. Square Root is an exhibition of artwork
created by Stanford University’s four graduating artists for their final MFA Thesis. The
artists include Jeremiah Barber, Jamil Hellu, Juan Luna-Avin and Armando Miguélez.
An artist with a background in performance, Jeremiah Barber creates sculptural
projects by mapping his own body. The body maps unfold into abstract forms, and appear as
garden plots, dissected animals, or body armor. While time allows the viewers to reconstruct
these images into a three-dimensional shape, it is the discoveries in the subtle curves and odd
territories of the body that give these works their visual depth. While the majority of works
reflect a direct relationship to the artist’s body, one new project is an inflation of scale. This
sculpture is a sleepy, translucent head built ten times to the scale of the artist’s head that rests
in silent thought, a mirror of the ego. Barber received his BFA from Columbia College, and
has exhibited his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Chicago
Cultural Center.
Jamil Hellu is a photographer whose work concentrates on the possibilities of
photography as a form of visual representation that explores autobiographic narratives and
invites viewers to project fictions. Exploring depictions of body language as a personal way
of seeing and the intimacy between subject and photographer, he is experimenting with the
ways in which a photograph is able to convey emotional responses not only by its content but
also by its physical aesthetic and painterly qualities. Hellu received his BFA in photography
from the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2007, he was awarded a six-month residency at the
Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and granted a Markowski-Leach scholarship in 2008
and 2009.
TEL 650 723-3404 FAX 650 725-0140 www.stanford.edu/dept/art

Department of Art & Art History Stanford University Stanford California 94305-2018
Juan Luna-Avin is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work examines individual and
collective identities through the lens of youth cultures and rock n roll music, placing a strong
emphasis on researching the history of Latin American music, especially Mexican punk. In
his timeline/genealogy drawing called “CGDLCMPEMDMNSOADD/VE (DF2009),” he
includes over 100 punk bands from various cities in Mexico. In his papier mache and wood
sculpture entitled “Endless Love,” that includes 47 handcrafted miniature effect pedals and a
miniature rock stage as a platform to display the objects, he explores the myth of the
performer. In “Expendio Aqui Esta La Musica,” he displays a vendor stand with toys,
posters, and other “Mexican-looking” goods that serve as catalysts for bringing Mexican rock
music to the mainstream to engage viewers in broader discussions about its socio-historical
context. Luna-Avin holds a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, and was
the 2009 recipient of the McNamara Family Creative Arts Grant from the Hispanic
Scholarship Fund.
Armando Miguélez’s work addresses issues of displacement in the global era and
concentrates on the ways physical environments are organized with a specific focus on
cartography and systems of world measurements. His work is interdisciplinary, combining at
times photography, drawing, installation and sound sculpture. At the exhibition, he takes on
different media, mainly appropriated images and elaborately traced maps. Miguélez attained
his BFA from the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, and has participated in
many individual and collective shows since 1998 in Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Argentina, Austin,
TX, and the Greater Bay Area.
VISITOR INFORMATION: Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery is open Tuesday
through Friday, 10 AM–5 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 PM. Admission is free. The
Gallery is located in the Stanford campus, off Palm Drive at 419 Lasuen Mall. Parking is free
after 4 PM and all day on weekends. Information: (650) 723-2842, http://art.stanford.edu.
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TEL 650 723-3404 FAX 650 725-0140 www.stanford.edu/dept/art