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Art Exhibitions
The Naropa University Galleries offer an experience of the arts in a contemplative environment committed to the human experience of visual, perceptual and energetic transmissions through art.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS SPRING 2019
The Cube Gallery:
Charles Livingston: Catalyst 1,522,150
(with performances by Charles Livingston)
March 19 - April 19, 2019
Opening Reception: March 22 from 6-8 pm.
with Special Perfomance by Selana Milewski & Karl Bowmann from The Tales We Tell in the Nalanda Atrium
Catalyst 1,522,150 is performance/installation whereby Charles hand cut over 1,500,000 slices of bicycle
inner tubes. Viewers are encouraged at any time to sit and take sliced pieces of the
tube, count how many they are removing, record the number, sign and date the ledger.
Charles counts every slice and keeps a separate ledger. The number of slices changes
with each performance as viewers take pieces away and he adds. During the performance
he attains a meditative state through breathing techniques aided by a mix of techno-ambient
and hertz specific ambient chakra music.
Catalyst can be viewed as a catalyst for change and evolution through a process. A transformation
from one state to a different state of being. From a micro to macro scale through
accretion and accumulation similar to how nature constructs. It is a metaphor for
the interconnection between all things, not just people. A shared experience that
allows for an awakening to our place and potential in the world. In turn making the
world a better place.
Living with manufactured plastics and synthetics is part of our everyday environment.
Plastics and synthetics have been co-opted into the landscape, an undesired evolution
of our nature. Using rubber, a petroleum product addresses this chemically induced
nature and environmental problem. This landscape is also represented in the synthesized
sounds used to enhance a meditative state during the performance.
The Nalanda Gallery:
Angela Faris Belt: ENTROPY
March 19 - April 19, 2019
Opening Reception: March 22 from 6-8 pm. with performance by Charles Livington
Special Theater Perfomance by Selana Milewski and Karl Bowmann in The Tales We Tell
Entropy: A natural condition of the physical universe wherein all things continuously move toward greater disorder.
I’ve spent my life immersed in nature, and making photographs to interpret its complex dialog. Through this I’ve become particularly attuned to the disparities between nature’s authentic self-expression, and the images we’ve grown to accept as accurate representations of it. We’re surrounded by these familiar and often cliché images—in magazines and on television, in calendars and postcards, as advertisements and décor. But unlike phenomenal experience, images offer only decontextualized fragments of information, manipulated and filtered by the photographer and the medium itself. My series Entropy overtly reveals this disparity.
After a catastrophic computer crash, I ran a recovery program which (mis)-interpreted my own digital landscape images. The corrupted files unearthed the landscapes’ digital building blocks, deconstructing them into visible components of content and process. As I examined the resulting images I was drawn to serendipitous interactions within them, and to the more substantive meanings they suggest. While parts of the images are immediately recognizable, being confronted with the photographic media interrupts any attempt at superficial reading. In viewing them we are encouraged to reflect upon photography’s role in cultivating commonly accepted ideas about nature, and to remain conscious of how those ideas influence our valuations and actions toward it.
Process Statement: These images are culled from tens of thousands of corrupt files. To maintain the integrity of the computer’s interpretation, I have optimized their density and contrast but not altered image content or layered images.
Artist Statement: I AM AN ARTIST, AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR
I live at 9,500-foot on a mountainside abutting national forest land in Colorado's Front Range, with my husband Dave and three other creatures—Bodhi the Wonder Dog, and cats Luna and Siva. Our neighbors are elk, deer, fox, coyotes, bears and mountain lions. I am a practicing artist and educator; in my off-time I build stone walls, hike, snowshoe, and take down bark beetle-killed trees.
My artwork is influenced by nature writers, Buddhist philosophy, a unique multi-cultural heritage, and a lifetime closely observing nature; it centers on relationships between humankind and the natural world. It also examines photographic media's phenomenological relationship to these concerns through the physics of time, the balance between light energy and sensitivity to it, as well as chemical interaction. I utilize the entire range of photographic media from historic to digital; my decisions regarding media are intended to underscore the content and concepts I'm focused on for the particular body of work.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
The Cube Gallery & The Nalanda Gallery
Creativity in Action
by Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel
January 18- March 15, 2019
Opening Reception - January 18 from 6:00-8:00 pm
Join Naropa University in celebrating Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel’s exhibition Creativty in Action from January 18th – March 15th 2019 in the Cube & Nalanda Gallery at the Nalanda Campus, 6287 Arapahoe Street, Boulder, CO 80301. Reception is Friday, January 18th from 6:00-800 p.m.
Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel, also known as Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, was born in the Northern Indian province of Himachel Pradesh into a Tibetan family, the son of Neten Chokling Rinpoche and Mayum Tsewang Paldun. Recognized as an incarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a great scholar and meditation master in 19th century Tibet, he grew up in a monastic environment and received extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist philosophy and practice. In 1989 Mr. Namgyel moved to the United States with his family and in 1990 began a five-year tenure as a professor of Buddhist philosophy at the Naropa Institute. He founded Mangala Shri Bhuti at this time, an organization established with the vision of furthering the wisdom and practice of the Longchen Nyingtik, Khyentse, Kongtrul and Choling lineages. Mr. Namgyel travels widely throughout the world teaching and furthering his own education. Deeply interested in activities that express the natural state of mind for which all meditation aims, Mr. Namgyel admired the work of Kandinsky and Picasso in his first encounters with Western art. Trained in the traditional Tibetan arts of calligraphy, music and ritual dance, he began painting in the mid-1990’s under the guidance of the French abstract expressionist painter Yahne Le Toumelin. Out of all the Western traditions, abstract expressionism caught his attention due to its acceptance of formless technique, which closely mirrors the relaxation of strict discipline found in advanced meditation. He explains, "Like the mind, creativity is a clear mirror that reflects all things. It is not programed or un-programed. It is free of a transfixed or static response."
Lounge Gallery:
VAHYB
(Jenej) Jennifer Evans: VAHYB
February 18 - March 1, 2019
Reception: February 22nd from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
6287 Arapahoe Street - Naropa Univeristy Nalanda Campus
Your definition as you see fit.
Broken. The shattered identities.
I make the unseen visible with
my chosen expression. The experience is you.
P.S - You can call this art, if you want, but - that is not its name.
It is the projection of all that you have come to know.
Paramita Gallery:
Container
Works by Transpersonal Art Therapy Master Program Students
February 13 - March 8, 2019
Reception: March 8 from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. 3285 30th Street - Naropa Univeristy Paramita CampusRachel Byrd - Ambrosia Owen - Brian Patrick - Devin Lafferty - Christine Throp - Jessie Hardy-
Lukasz Broszkiewicz - Lara Rutledge - Emily Black - Chloe Jacobson - Greylyn Owens - Haley Haren
Enjoy this mixed media exhibition that explores the question:
"What in my life needs to be contained and how do I transform this subject?"
THE GALLERIES
Deeply linked with Naropa University’s mission, the visual arts galleries nurture and cultivate contemplative insight to reflect the interplay of discipline and delight. We are home to five art galleries throughout the campuses that present contemporary and traditional media by students and faculty, regional, national and international artists. In addition, each spring and fall semester the Naropa University Galleries feature artwork by graduating seniors from the Visual Arts and Art Therapy programs.
Nalanda Campus - 6287 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301
- The Cube Gallery: An intimate (25’x 25’x 23’) new gallery showing contemporary local, national and international artists. Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- The Nalanda Gallery: Exhibits professional guest artists and Senior Graduation BA exhibition. Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m
- The Lounge Gallery: A new community space operated by Visual Arts students with mentoring by the gallery manager to create experiential exhibits while learning curatorial, design and installation skills. Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Arapahoe Campus – 2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301
The Lincoln Gallery: Displays Local and Regional professional artists. Plans are in process to create a permanent exhibit: The History of Naropa through photographs, articles and memorabilia from the archives. Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Paramita Campus - 3285 30th Street, Boulder, CO 80301
The Paramita Gallery: Presents works in all media by Regional & Local professonal artists; Naropa University Faculty and MA Art Therapy students. Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
OUR AUDIENCE
The School of the Arts is committed to engaging a diverse audience and community building, including:
- Undergraduate and graduate students
- The Naropa University alumni community
- Across campuses in the Naropa University community
- The Boulder and Denver university community
- The Boulder, Foothills, and Denver metro area community
- National and International visitors