Happening Night at University Art Gallery

By Inga Kiderra I April 11, 2005

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox takes a closer look at a cascading herd of miniature bison, a.k.a. "Traditional - TH40," a 2005 mixed-media piece by visual arts MFA student Kia Neill.

A herd of bison cascaded over one wall. Pixels danced on another. And a passel of people buzzed about the April 7 opening of "Now Happening" at the University Art Gallery. Featuring the artwork of 18 graduating Master of Fine Arts students from the department of visual arts, "Now Happening" is the first all-student exhibition to show in the University Art Gallery space.

Some 600 students, faculty and members of the San Diego arts community (including gallery directors scouting for new talent) turned out for the event.

Among those attending were Chancellor Marye Anne Fox; Georgios Anagnostopoulos, interim dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities; Steve Fagin, chair of the department of visual arts; and Professor Emeritus Allan Kaprow - father of unscripted, interactive performance pieces known as "happenings," which redrew the boundary between art and everyday life in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and to whom the "Now Happening" exhibition is dedicated.

"This is a wonderful evening for the arts at UCSD," said Dean Anagnostopoulos. "The exhibited pieces show the strong training our students receive in a variety of media and their originality as artists."

Steve Fagin, chair of the department of visual arts, with Allan Kaprow, UCSD arts professor emeritus and father of "happenings," to whom the "Now Happening" exhibition is dedicated.

The exhibition was curated by UCSD alumna Alison Gingeras, curator of contemporary art at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, with Kathleen Stoughton, director of the University Art Gallery; and UCSD professors of visual arts Jordan Crandall and Ernest Silva.

"Now Happening" will remain on view through April 23. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibit and catalogue, to be published in the fall, are supported by the university's Division of Arts and Humanities and the Center for the Humanities.

To learn more about the exhibition: http://www.universityartgallery.ucsd.edu/exhibitions/current_exhibition.html