EXHIBITION
Still Standing
Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition
Enrico Battan, Mari Matsuda, and Erik Sullivan
March 3 – March 31, 2024
The Art Gallery, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM), Art Building
The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Still Standing, is the culmination of the three-year graduate program in visual art for the class of 2024. Mari Matsuda brings decades of experience in social movements in Hawaiʻi to her large-scale woodblock prints. Her masterfully rendered prints echo the rawness and conviction of German Expressionist artists such as Kathe Kollwitz, who advocated for the disadvantaged. Erik Sullivan has constructed a narrative, consisting of a large-scale sculpture and paintings, about the day-to-day life of a fictional character who is struggling with crippling effects of anxiety. Through patient, meditative paint handling, he creates a coherent world in which the affliction is ultimately overcome through connection and attention to the present moment. Enrico Battan uses the transparency of glass to speak about the opaque and distressing situation on our Southern Border Wall with Mexico, as well as its impact on migrants and the communities in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. He sees his material, glass, as transmutable in nature, much like memories. Drawing on photographs that he took at border wall protests, he fires screen printed imagery into large-scale glass sculptures. The depictions of butterfly signs held by children at the protest serve as a symbol of regeneration. All three artists look to the power of art to remain “standing,” inspiring resilience and hope. Congratulations to each as they move onto their bright careers in their respective fields. -Professor Debra Drexler
Thank you to the Master of Fine Arts Thesis Committees. Enrico Battan: Professor Richard Mills (Chair), Associate Professor Kate Lingley, and Professor Brad Evan Taylor; Mari Matsuda: Professor Scott Groeniger (Chair), Professor Mary Babcock, and Associate Professor Jaimey Hamilton Faris; Erik Sullivan: Professor Wendy Kawabata (Chair), Professor Debra Drexler, and Professor Richard Mills. This exhibit was organized by Professor Debra Drexler, Acting Director of the Galleries and Museums. Thanks to the staff of the University Galleries and the John Young Museum of Art, Sheika Alghezawi, Assistant Director, David Kiyabu, Gallery Exhibition Coordinator, Mia Zheng, Curatorial Graduate Assistant, Hala Megahy, Installation Graduate Assistant, Celia Langford and the staff at the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Opening Reception
Date: March 3, 2024, Sunday, 2:00–4:00 PM
Location: The Art Gallery, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM), Art Building
THE ART GALLERY is located at 2535 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822.
Thesis Defense schedule
Enrico Battan 11:00am - 12:30pm, Friday, March 8, 2024
Erik Sullivan 02:00pm - 03:30pm, Friday, March 8, 2024
Mari Matsuda 12:00pm -01:30pm, Friday, March 15, 2024
Gallery hours and admission
Tuesday–Friday, & Sunday, 12–4 p.m.
Closed Saturdays, Mondays, spring break (March 17-22), and state holidays.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply during weekdays. Parking is free on Sundays
For more information please contact Sheika Alghezawi at 808.956.8364 and gallery@hawaii.edu