News & Events

UNC Asheville Hosts Exhibit by Windgate Fellow Sculptor Ben Reid

June 15, 2010

"Visiting Hours," an installation of six sculptures with moving elements by Raleigh artist Benjamin Reid, will be on view at UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union from June 17-August 5. An opening reception and artist talk will be held from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 17, in the gallery. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Reid, a 2010 UNC Asheville alumnus, recently received a National Windgate Fellowship with an accompanying $15,000 prize. Just 10 fellowships are given to graduating college seniors each year to help encourage and advance their artistic development. Reid is the third UNC Asheville graduate to earn a National Windgate Fellowship since the program was founded five years ago.

"Visiting Hours" follows Reid's senior solo exhibition, "An Absurdist Collection of Tragic Nonsense," which was held on campus earlier this year. For the new show, Reid is once again collaborating with fellow alumnus Jeremy Young, who provides sound effects for the installation.

"'Visiting Hours' refers to the opportunity that we have as living beings to encounter other living beings during our time together. But it also refers to the decision of the soul, energy, or whatever it is, to come into a physical form and experience life that way," Reid said. "Finally, it's a reference to whatever expectantly hovers about us – watching us live our lives while it waits to usher us along, visiting with us as we leave our encumbrances and rejoin the infinite dream that is life outside the physical form."

UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union Gallery is located on the lower level of the Union. The Gallery is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call 828/251-6991.