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February 21, 2005

Bry Art Gallery Presents Crystal Cardenas

The Bry Art Gallery at the University of Louisiana at Monroe is currently showing a one-exhibition of paintings by Crystal Cardenas of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A 2003 graduate in painting from ULM, the artist is currently employed as a preparatory for the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. This past summer, Ms. Cardenas took advantage of a program from Oklahoma State University to study painting in the Tuscan Region of Italy. A series of paintings, titled "Il Mio Viaggio in Italia" ("My Voyage to Italy") ensued.

ULM invited Ms. Cardenas to present an exhibition of her impressions in Italy in oil and on canvas from February 14 - March 10 in the Bry Art Gallery. Thirteen canvases that the artist deems to be "poetic landscapes" are on view. In these, natural landscape and antique architectural sites are abstracted into personal statements of intrinsic color and luminous lighting effects experienced in her subjunctive personal romantic survey of the area.

To the viewer, most of these painting will appear to be non-objective, or simply arrangements of colored shapes. More careful study will unearth recognizable fragments of buildings and sections of landscapes that are juxtaposed with the indigenous color of Tuscany.

On Monday, February 14th, Dr. and Mrs. James Cofer presented an opening reception for the artist on the seventh floor of the university library. Following the reception, the Italian Paintings were returned to Bry for the duration of the exhibition.

This exhibition will be displayed through March 10th. The Bry Art Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Ms. Cardenas will conduct a closing gallery talk at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 10.\

For this and other ULM news online visit www.ulm.edu. While there, check out ULM's on-line calendar for all of ULM's upcoming events.

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