Exhibition: August 29 – October 1, 2005
Reception: Friday, September 9, 6 – 8:30 PM
Gallery talk during reception beginning at 6:30 PM

The Gallery at UTA kicks off its 2005-2006 season with an exhibition of paintings by artists Richard Martinez (San Antonio) and Jim Woodson (Ft. Worth).

Richard Martinez’s work incorporates uniquely shaped canvases, decorative motifs and stenciled patterns, and colorful painterly techniques. He describes his primarily abstract paintings as employing “a baroque approach in their blatant sensuality of form, artifice, and the pleasure of color.” The rounded flowing forms of his canvases suggest sculptural objects, while the atmospheric painting overlaid with gestural marks and stylized designs emphasizes the flatness of the surface.

Jim Woodson’s oil paintings are inspired by the sweeping southwestern panoramas of Texas and New Mexico. Actively reinterpreting rather than merely depicting what he sees, Woodson’s process involves photographing and then recombining elements from different perspectives to create a more personalized version of the scene. His self-described “concurrent views of the landscape” push the horizon line to the upper register of the canvas and incorporate abstract marks made by tools such as palette knives and brushes attached to long sticks. Curator Benito Huerta comments, “More and more, Woodson utilizes the landscape as a starting point… as a process toward abstract exploration.”

Richard Martinez relocated to Texas from the west coast in 2004. He received his BFA from Southern Oregon University and his MFA from the University of California, Davis. Currently, an Assistant Professor in Studio Art, he teaches painting and drawing in the undergraduate and graduate programs at UT San Antonio. His work has been exhibited in several solo and two person exhibitions in Oregon and California between 2002 and 2005. In 2005, his work was included in the Texas Biennial in Austin for which he won a Juror’s Award. He also received a Juror’s Award at the 2003 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum.

Fort Worth artist Jim Woodson is Professor of Art at Texas Christian University where he has taught since 1974. Born and educated in Texas, he is well known to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex art community. Local exhibitions include a 2002 two-person show at the Arlington Museum of Art, a solo exhibition in 2000 at TCU and two solo exhibitions in 1980 and 1991 at the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth. In 1999 his work was selected for inclusion in the international invitational exhibition, “Bienniale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea” in Florence, Italy. His work can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout Texas.

In association with the exhibition, the artists will each present an hour-long slide lecture about their work beginning at 12 noon in the Fine Arts Building auditorium (room 148). Richard Martinez is scheduled for Thursday, September 8 and Jim Woodson will present on Thursday, September 29.

All events are free and open to the public.

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 10 - 5 PM, Saturday 12 - 5 PM.
Located on the north end, first floor of the UTA Fine Arts Building, 502 S. Cooper St., Arlington.

For more information, contact Benito Huerta 817-272-3143, or Patricia Healy 817-272-5658

The 2005-2006 exhibition schedule is made possible by the generous support of Arlington Camera, the Hanley Foundation, and Hilton Arlington.