Versatile artists move beyond mobility in vehicle-driven exhibition

TEMPE, Ariz. – Move on over to the Night Gallery at the Tempe Marketplace this fall to experience versatile artworks by ASU Herberger College School of Art graduate students, faculty and alumni in: Vehicle as Art and Art as Vehicle. The Night Gallery is a creation of the community partnership between the ASU Herberger College of the Arts and the Tempe Marketplace. The Night Gallery encompasses 3,800 square feet of exhibition space in a location not yet leased by a retailer.

“The Night Gallery brings together Herberger College artists, faculty and alumni with community members in a social space that is a portal for expanding arts awareness, thus creating cultural exchange,” says Joe Baker, director of community engagement in the ASU Herberger College of the Arts.

Vehicle as Art and Art as Vehicle runs Oct. 3 – Nov. 29 and highlights the work of School of Art MFA graduate, Jose A. Benavides. His featured piece is Madonna Car. Earlier this year, Benavides received an Artist Projects grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Joining Benavides in the exhibition is fellow School of Art MFA alumna Suzanne Carnes, whose vehicle includes shades of red blood in a camouflage pattern. School of Art graduate students also have featured works, including a wheelchair as a bed of nails by Damian Johnson; and a sculpture of two beach cruiser bicycles fastened at the stem, which share a common wheel, by Kris Waid-Jones.

Also moving into the Night Gallery during the latest exhibition are School of Art faculty artists. Sculpture professor Jim White’s piece is a neon-steel sculpture of a 3-D wheeled fingerprint. Other School of Art faculty who have new installations include Bill Jenkins, Mary Neubauer and Betsy Schneider.

Since the Night Gallery opening during late June, 2008, Herberger College alumni artists have included David Young and Michael Anderson. Anderson studied on the Tempe campus in the late 1960s and continues to work as a sculptor. His steel works are in public and private collections across the U.S. and in more than five countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Australia. The kinetic sculpture work of alumnus David Young was featured in the initial Night Gallery exhibition. Young won the International Sculpture Center’s ISC) 2007 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award during the fall of 2007. The ISC is the world’s leading international organization devoted to the creation and understanding of sculpture.

Connect with more works of Herberger College artists who continue to share their creativity with the community at the Night Gallery, which is located at 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe. Vehicle as Art and Art as Vehicle runs Oct. 3 – Nov. 29. Entrance to the Night Gallery is free and hours are 6–9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. 

Media Contact:
Wendy Craft 
Media Relations
480.965.0478
wendy.craft@asu.edu