“Comic Book Diplomacy,” an exhibition by artist Christopher SaucedoThree new exhibitions will open in October at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.
An opening reception is planned for all three exhibitions from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at the AEIVA, 1221 10th Ave. South. The exhibitions will open Oct. 10. “Symbols, Schemes, and Procedures: Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection” will run through Nov. 14. “Comic Book Diplomacy” and “Quantum Harmonic Oscillator” will be on exhibition through Nov. 26.
“Comic Book Diplomacy,” an exhibition by New York- and New Orleans-based artist Christopher Saucedo, is a series of branded inkjet collages pulled from the artist’s collection of internationally published comic books amassed from decades of overseas travel.
Using a red-hot steel branding technique, the artist has removed the center of each book and replaced it with the center of a book from another nation, while embroidering traditional geographical map symbols onto the surface. The result is a body of work that presents a geo-political narrative while also raising questions about the collective, global “moral compass” presented through the tropes and archetypes of comic books.
“Symbols, Schemes, and Procedures: Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection” is an exhibition that pulls from artworks collected by UAB over the last 40 years. 
“Quantum Harmonic Oscillator” is a site-specific, single-channel video installation by artist Adam FerrissThe exhibit presents a sampling of the various functions served through the practice of printmaking, by several master artists of the 20th and 21st centuries who are not necessarily known primarily as printmakers. Artists featured in this exhibit include James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenburg, Christo, Willie Cole, Dennis Oppenheim, Chryssa and more.
“Quantum Harmonic Oscillator” is a site-specific, single-channel video installation by Los Angeles-based artist Adam Ferriss. This large-scale video installation was created by a custom set of software programmed by the artist to explore the “abyssal plains, organic patterns, and generative forms that emerge from digital feedback algorithms.” Using open-sourced hardware and software, Ferriss’ work explores his interest in the creation of naturally evolving forms from purely numerical input, by creating graphical data that recursively influences itself.
Admission to the exhibitions is free. The AEIVA is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday and is closed Sundays and holidays. For information, call 205-975-6436.