Pine Bluff, Ark. — Stephen Zhang, assistant professor of Communication Design and renowned watercolor artist, has been selected for inclusion in a biennial exhibition showcasing artists in the mid-South.
Zhang, from Plano, Texas, is among 35 artists selected for the “2023 Irene Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition,” organized by The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas.
Exhibition
July 20–Oct. 14, 2023
ASC, 701 S. Main St.
William H. Kennedy Jr. Gallery
Pine Bluff, Ark.
Awards reception: July 20, 5–7 p.m.
Awards presentation: 6 p.m. presented by Juror Rachel Trusty, Ph.D., artist, educator and curator.
Free and open to the public.
Zhang's selected drawing is “perverted CONnections,” ink on paper, 25 inches by 33 inches, 2021. His work has received numerous recognitions in design competitions. Zhang is also an internationally recognized watercolor artist known for his unique storytelling of humans and nature.
Zhang's research and creative practice focus on visual storytelling. He has frequently collaborated with computer scientists, musicians, biologists and nonprofit organizations.
During his branding and design career, before returning to teaching at the university, Zhang served as vice president and image director at Fossil Group and vice president/creative director at Filson.
He studied at Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in China and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree in communication design from the University of North Texas.
Visit his website, stephenzhangart.com, and follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/stephenzhangart.
About The Exhibition
The Rosenzweig exhibition welcomes submissions from artists in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Artwork in traditional and digital forms is accepted, including paintings, drawings, original prints, fiber art, ceramics, sculpture, photography, video and digital work.
ASC received 594 submissions by 315 artists, from which Trusty chose 35 works.
The complete list of 35 artists with works selected is as follows.
Leslie Alvarez of Springfield, Missouri, “Bloom Nature,” digital art
Stuart Asprey of Norman, Oklahoma, “Snackie Cake Superhero Platter,” ceramic
Jennifer Barnett of Little Rock, Arkansas, “Memory Dance,” photograph
Peter Barnitz of Kenner, Louisiana, “Dissection of Space,” mixed media
Becky Blackburn of Memphis, Tennessee, “How The Story Ends,” ceramic
Jason Bly of Wichita Falls, Texas, “Norepinephrine,” painting
Carley Brown of Little Rock, Arkansas, “Feeling Lucky?,” painting
Danqi Cai of Knoxville, Tennessee, “The Atomic Boy,” monotype and watercolor
Adaja Cooper of Little Rock, Arkansas, “Bug Has The Hose Now,” painting
Melissa Cowper-Smith of Morrilton, Arkansas, “Whispers Borrowed,” mixed media
Tim Cribbs of Bentonville, Arkansas, “The Wild Burns at Night,” digital print on canvas
Kelsey Duncan of Nashville, Tennessee, “Onyx,” stoneware and mixed media
Kurt Dyrhaug of Beaumont, Texas, “Vertical Tonka Wing,” cast iron and enamel
Paige Ellens of Memphis, Tennessee, “Cowboy in Solitude,” painting
Patrick Fleming of Roland, Arkansas, “Mother Earth I,” painting on dimensional canvas
Elizabeth Fontenot of Beaumont, Texas, “Rising,” mixed media
Nabil Gonzalez of El Paso, Texas, “Blackout of The American Dream (Series 1-8),” mixed media
Chris Hurtado of El Paso, Texas, “Automatic Graffiti,” porcelain
Crystal Jennings of Rison, Arkansas, “Catalyst,” charcoal drawing
Lisa Krannichfeld of Little Rock, Arkansas, “Hold On, Let Go,” mixed media
Vincent Marie of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, “I'm Tired,” mixed media
Dennis McCann of Maumelle, Arkansas, “Girl Talk,” pastel
Donna M Meeks of Beaumont, Texas, “(American Dream) #9,” mixed media
Stacey Monteleone of Oxford, Mississippi, “Let's Dance,” painting
Erik Ordaz of Nacogdoches, Texas, “N.I.N.J.A.,” ceramic
Rachel Perry of Lafayette, Louisiana, “Behind the Warehouse,” painting
Yelena Petroukhina of Little Rock, Arkansas, “Blindly Forward,” ceramic
Tom Richard of Monticello, Arkansas, “Bubble Gum on Art (Giotto/FraAngelica/Daumier),” mixed media
Debra Roberson of Shreveport, Louisiana, “Cotton Field: The Overseer,” photograph and mixed media
Wesley Roden of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, “Loose Cannon,” painting
Blake Sanders of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, “Anywhere I Lay My Head (version 3),” mixed media
Jennifer Smay of Fayetteville, Arkansas, “One goes this way, one goes that way,” drawing
Sarah Stobbe of Arlington, Tennessee, “Hand-me-down,” ceramic
Holden Sutton of Allen, Texas, “Head in the Ceiling Fan,” painting
Stephen Zhang of Plano, Texas, “perverted CONnections,” drawing
“I was incredibly impressed by the quality and breadth of all the work,” Trusty said. “Choosing only 35 pieces from over 500 entries was difficult, and I want to celebrate everyone who entered. When selecting pieces for the show, I had two main criteria. First, that the work demonstrated excellence in technique, and second, that the work was innovative and pushed what we consider to be ‘art’ forward through media, theme, or both.”
Trusty is a visiting assistant professor of women's and gender studies at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Trusty has a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts degree in women, gender, and sexuality studies from the University of Kansas (2022 and 2020); a Master of Fine Arts degree from Lesley College in Boston (2011); and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sculpture and art education from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway (2006).
The biennial exhibition began with a gift from the Irene Rosenzweig Foundation to ASC in 1992. Born in Pine Bluff in 1903, Rosenzweig was a noted scholar and teacher. She earned a doctoral degree from Bryn Mawr College, studied in Rome, and was fluent in six languages. Rosenzweig tutored President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s family members during their time in the White House. She died in 1997.
For more information, contact Kevin Haynie, ASC’s curator of collections and exhibitions, at khaynie@asc701.org or call 870-536-3375.
The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday–Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Image: ASC Rosenzweig Exhibition_Stephen Zhang.jpg — Stephen Zhang, “perverted CONnections,” ink on paper, 25 inches by 33 inches, 2021. A man's face with more than a dozen faces within the main drawing.
