The Biannual International Photography Exposition, Fotofest, is coming back to Houston on March 15, and San Jacinto College South Campus is getting in on the action.
According to art professor Martin Wnuk, Fotofest is one of South Campus’s most anticipated events of this year.
“It is the biggest photography show in the world,” Wnuk said.
For one month every two years, the Greater Houston Area hosts artists from all over the world, presenting their art in Expos, Galleries, and Museums around Houston. This year, over one hundred artists hailing from 32 countries will be showcased.
Acclaimed artists Chadwick Gray and Laura Spector will present their workshop, the Museum Anatomy Project, in the Marie Spence Flickinger Fine Arts Center on the South campus beginning March 17. The workshop features photograph manipulation – taking a historical portrait or piece of art and recreating it on the human body.
Both accomplished artists, Gray and Spector were recipients of the highly-regarded New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Award in 2001, as well as reaching the finals in 2006 and 2008 for the Sovereign Asian Art Award.
They have both appeared in The Harvard Review, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! and in Wendy Steiner’s The Real Real Thing: The Model In The Mirror Of Art.
In addition, their work is showcased in numerous exhibits around the world. “We are very lucky to have them,” Wnuk said.
The Museum Anatomy Project began in 1995 and the exhibition at San Jac marks the twentieth anniversary of the artists’ collaboration.
“This is the first year we are participating in Fotofest,” Gray said, “and we are excited to be participating.”
The artists said they hope attendees come away from the workshop with “new ideas and an open mindedness” that will help them work effectively in collaboration with others.
Meanwhile, Gray said he feels their work is significant because “art defines who we are as a people and Illuminates our history.”
“Without art,” he added, “and this includes when art is lost or destroyed, a part of history is erased.”
The workshop will open with a reception and viewing of Museum Anatomy photographs March 17 at 1:30pm. The following day, a lecture begins at 10 a.m., followed by a photography-based demo at 1:30p.m.. Fotofest will run in the Houston area until April 27. A schedule of events and their locations is available at Fotofest.org.