RANDY METCALF

Mia Ruyter, an assistant art professor and artist for "between fantasy and pleasure," which features a variety of modern art works, opens Friday and will run through Sept. 27 at the Joseph Gross Gallery.

Tuesday August 21, 2001 |

Arizona Daily Wildcat

An eclectic diversity of artists, working in an equally varied selection of media, will come together this week to present a singular message.

The title of the upcoming art show at the Joseph Gross Gallery, may have evoke interesting thought concerning the exhibit's content.

"between fantasy and pleasure" features a variety of modern art works created by Emmanuelle Antille, Jeanne Dunning, Justine Kurland, Nicoletta Munroe, Ramona Ponce, Suara Welitoff and Mia Ruyter, an assistant art professor at UA.

Ruyter and Alena Williams are curators of the show. A native of New York, Ruyter became an assistant art professor in January of last year.

Though featuring a UA artist, the show is by no means regional. The artists have come from Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and as far away as Switzerland to display their work.

"All the artists have different subject matters - they are all dealing with personal issues," Ruyter said.

Despite the differences in focus, a common theme links the show's pieces - the idea that all the art works explore both fantasy and reality and the balance between the two. This concept inspired Ruyter's and Williams' title for the show.

"Antille's work deals with relationships, particularly family. Dunning's deals with body image. Kurland's deals with being a teen, and Ponce's work is about love," Ruyter said.

Ruyter describes her own work as dealing with self-image and creating personal identity and the how family and social influences affect those concepts.

"One of my photographs is a woman posed in different costumes with a dog," she said.

While some may deem this a little unusual, the idea is to not take it at face value, but to look a little deeper for what the artist is saying, Ruyter added.

"I hope that the beauty of the art will work like a hook in music - it will catch your attention and make you want to look longer," Ruyter said. "Later, as things happen in your life, you'll be reminded of the art and the ideas and the truth in the art will become clear."

The artists employ a diversity of media to express themselves, such as photographs and sculptures.

Gallery curator James Schaub describes "between fantasy and pleasure" as "interesting in its use of video and costume design."

Additionally, three different artists contributed one to two-minute video shorts, and Ponce's work features costumes used in her recent wedding. The theme was "the marriage of good and evil," and it featured costumes that "look like Renaissance ball gowns meeting an episode of Star Trek," Ruyter said.

"(In this exhibit) we are looking for art that is both beautiful and intelligent," Ruyter said. "There is an idea that art has to be one or the other when it really doesn't."

"between fantasy and pleasure" opens Friday and will run through Sept. 27 at the Joseph Gross Gallery. There will be an opening reception Friday from 5 to 7p.m. The gallery's regular hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission to "between fantasy and pleasure" is free. The Joseph Gross Gallery is located on the southeast corner of Park and Speedway next to the University of Arizona Art Museum.