EXHIBITIONS: 'Crafting something awesome from the craziness'

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Photo of artist's work: Pomegranata, ceramic.
Motley Chaos includes this ceramic work, titled, you guessed it: <i>Pomegranate</i>.

Autobiographical Comics: "Sometimes a Mere Glance Will Do ..." An exhibition and selected bibliography of autobiographical comics and associated research resources, celebrating the increasingly popular medium for artists and exploring its enduring appeal to readers of all ages. Through Oct. 31 in the main display cases in the lobby of Shields Library.

According to the Shields website, autobiographical comics and their creators have received increased recognition in the popular sector, in noted periodicals such as The New York Times  The New Yorker, and in classrooms, libraries, and bookstores throughout the United States and abroad.

"The artwork and narrative structure of autobiographical comics come together to create a level of sophistication that is often brilliant, frequently frightening, and, at times, psychologically disturbing.

"At their best, these comics challenge basic assumptions of decency, honesty, truth and civilized beliefs in order, justice and continuity. They question easily held opinions on mental health and the spiritual.

The exhibit features an introduction and bibliography that offers interested readers insights into the lives of the artists and the nature of their work.

Exhibit prepared by Roberto C. Delgadillo, information services librarian for the humanities, social sciences and government.

Shields Library summer hours, through Sept. 10: 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Exception: closed Sept. 6.

Flatlanders 3 — Third biennial survey of the Davis-Woodland-Sacramento-area art community. Five painters, all of whom work figuratively: Suzanne Adan, James Albertson, Patrick Marasso, Irving Marcus and Jack Ogden. Plus: Mitra Fabian, who is making a wall installation using hundreds of office clips; Ianna Frisby, embroidered drawings inspired by dressmaking pattern illustrations; and Michael Stevens, a sculptor who works in wood, often with painted elements. A 32-page, featuring color prints of works by the eight artists, plus essays by Renny Pritikin, the gallery’s curator and director, is available for $15. Through Aug. 15, Nelson Gallery, 124 Art Building Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 2-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, and by appointment on Fridays.

 • In the Wild — Photojournalist Clyde L. Elmore, a retired UC Davis weed scientist, presents a diverse collection of landscape and wildlife images from North America. Through Aug. 31, Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

• Motley Chaos — Mixed media exhibition by Craft Center textile instructor Jennifer Rutherford. Through Sept. 10, Craft Center Gallery, South Silo. Hours: 12:30-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 12:30-7 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

Rutherford, who works in computer programming in the registrar's office, submitted this artist's statement for Motley Chaos: "This show is all about embracing the chaos. It’s about studying Greek deities who had decidedly unpeaceful lives. It’s about studying how the universe works through systems of divination. It’s about taking broken things or raw items and assembling them at random into new works of art. It’s about taking the craziness and crafting it into something unexpectedly awesome. Because really, what else can you do when life spins the wheel on you?"

Mural Sketches: 30 Years of Community Muralism — Preparatory drawings from 30 years of the Chicana/o Studies Mural Workshop. At the TANA community art center, 1224 Lemen Ave., Woodland. The Department of Chicana/o Studies conceived of TANA and runs it; TANA stands for Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer, or Art Workshops of the New Dawn.

TANA hours: 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (the center often opens as early as noon on these days), and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

• A Woman’s Place: An Exhibit on the History of the Women’s Rights Movement In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution's 19th Amendment, in August 1920, giving women the right to vote. The exhibit features books, pamphlets, and other documents and ephemera from the Women's History Collection and other research collections held in the University Library's Special Collections. Items on exhibit include 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century publications documenting the growth and development of the women's rights movement. The exhibit offers a special tribute to the campaign for women's suffrage and provides a wide view of the evolution of social and political views of the "place of women" over the last three centuries. The exhibit puts a special focus on the period between the emergence of a women's movement in the United States in the 19th century and continuing through the emergence in the 1960s and 1970s of a second wave of the movement in the form of the women's liberation movement. Exhibit prepared by John Sherlock of Special Collections. Through summer, lobby, first floor, Shields Library. Summer hours, through Sept. 10: 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Exception: closed Sept. 6.

Media Resources

Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

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