UNE Art Gallery presents “Tenacious,” opening Feb. 10

James Graham. “Untitled.” 2023. Oil on canvas. 60” x 48” (detail).

The University of New England Art Gallery is pleased to present “Tenacious,” an abstract exhibit opening Friday, Feb. 10, on the Portland Campus.

Featuring work by James Graham, Karen Jelenfy, James Bradley Marshall, and Ian Trask — and curated by the Maine Historical Society’s Tilly Laskey — “Tenacious” focuses on non-objective abstraction as a generative visual language. The artwork is contextualized through process, with themes of aging, chronic illness, mental health, and the artist’s response to these challenges through the activity of artmaking.

“The work in ‘Tenacious’ responds to our ever-changing world, reflecting each artist’s unique perspectives — some inhabiting a body that is changing or processing environmental crises and current events,” Laskey remarked. “The labor-intensive processes of oil painting, mark making with pencils, layering glue onto paper, or binding cast-off materials into sculptures are methods to seek balance — both in creating the finished work and for the individual wellbeing of the artists. Relying on lines, shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to convey ideas, the work of Graham, Jelenfy, Marshall, and Trask find whimsy and beauty in adversity — it is tenacious.”

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, Feb. 10, from 4 to 7 p.m.

The UNE Art Gallery is located at 716 Stevens Ave. in Portland. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday or by appointment. Please contact Hilary Irons for more information: hirons@une.edu.

“Untitled" by James Graham

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About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest private university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.