CGCC is thrilled to announce the opening of its first fall art exhibition, Laura Menardi - Memories Contained (Faces, Places, Objects) at the Library Gallery on the Pecos campus.
Memories Contained is a solo exhibition that delves into the themes of memory, nostalgia, time, and identity. Laura Menardi, a painter based in the Southwestern United States, grew up in Ohio and earned her BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Her art focuses on the simplification of information, revisiting and reframing autobiographical elements and experiences. Her work centers on the malleable nature of memory and the conflicting influences of her 1970s girlhood. Memories Contained invites visitors to engage with the creative process through both sight and the intimate scale of the works. By painting objects and referencing photographs from her childhood, Menardi investigates how memories are formed, questioning whether they exist as fixed reflections of reality or are subject to transformation over time.
The exhibition will be on view through October 15, 2024. The walkthrough and reception will be held on September 17, 2024, from 2:30 to 3:30 PM. If you’d like to schedule additional walkthroughs for your classes, please email me at roja.najafi@cgc.edu. Please encourage your students to visit this unique and engaging exhibition for a memorable experience.
More about the exhibition:
Laura Menardi - Memories Contained (Faces, Places, Objects)
Memories Contained is a solo exhibition that delves into the themes of memory, nostalgia, time, and identity. Laura Menardi, a painter based in the Southwestern United States, grew up in Ohio and earned her BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Her art focuses on the simplification of information, revisiting and reframing autobiographical elements and experiences. Her work centers on the malleable nature of memory and the conflicting influences of her 1970s girlhood.
Memories Contained invites visitors to engage with the creative process through both sight and the intimate scale of the works. By painting objects and referencing photographs from her childhood, Menardi investigates how memories are formed, questioning whether they exist as fixed reflections of reality or are subject to transformation over time. When painters work from a photograph, they are two steps removed from immediate reality. The photograph captures a specific moment in time, and painting from that photo, rather than from life, adds another layer of distance from direct experience. This separation allows the artist to revisit the past and interpret the subject over an extended period, freeing them from the constraints of time.
The featured artworks suggest that even concepts as universal as memory may change, shift, and redefine themselves as time goes by, often in provocative, powerful, and unimaginable ways. The past uniquely infiltrates the present, compelling us to re-examine the nature of our memories. The idea that memory exists in the present moment is also a recurring theme in all the artworks presented. As a cohesive collection, the exhibition grounds memory as a vital concept in our fast-moving world. Each work in this exhibition embarks on its own quest to recall the past, whether through an exploration of the viewer's personal history or an attempt to understand the artist's experiences. This creates a timeline of events that viewers can explore collectively
Curator: Dr. Roja Najafi, Exhibition Designer: Professor Louis Mendoza. This exhibition was made possible through the support of CGCC Libraries. All works courtesy of the artist.