Travis Somerville, “T.K.A.M.” 2015; oil, gesso, acrylic, and collage on canvas; 48x36 inches. Image courtesy of Beta Pictoris galleryRenowned artist Travis Somerville will present a lecture Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts’ Hess Lecture Hall at 6 p.m.
Somerville will come to UAB for a weeklong residency Nov. 2-6 and will be working in the DAAH Printmaking Studio with Assistant Professor Derek Cracco. Somerville has not worked in the printmaking medium before; but under Cracco’s tutelage, he will experiment with line etching, aquatint and spit bite techniques and will produce a 16-by-20-inch intaglio print.
Somerville has garnered critical attention in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, Art in America, FlashArt and The Los Angeles Times.
Somerville’s irreverent installations, paintings and embellished photographs incorporate suggestive symbols of the South’s troubled history and images of popular advertising from the more recent past, explore the complexities of racism, and serve as a platform for discussion about U.S. oppression and colonial attitudes abroad.
Somerville’s work has been included in numerous museum exhibitions, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many others.
The lecture is made possible by the Department of Art and Art History and the UAB Jemison Visiting Professorship in the Humanities.