VIM PICK: Artist Zully Mejia Art Exhibition "Un Orgasmo d'Arte At UNLV Grant Hall Gallery
Un Orgasmo d’Arte captures the development of Zully Mejia’s art practice as a result of studying abroad in Viterbo, Italy, during the Fall 2018 semester. The title references a phrase Mejia heard during her time in Italy. At its essence, this exhibition seeks to encourage other students to study abroad. The artist recognizes that a main factor for making study abroad possible is finance. She is grateful to supporters who made her study abroad experience possible, including the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship. Mejia understands the impact that studying abroad can have for an art student, and she would like to facilitate another student’s journey abroad. Accordingly, she will donate fifty percent of proceeds from this exhibition to the funding of an award for an art student to study abroad. Details regarding how to apply will be announced in April.
March 11-29, UNLV Grant Hall Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, March 15 5:30-7:30PM
About the artist:
Zully Mejia is a senior undergraduate student at University of Nevada Las Vegas. Mejia’s artwork is informed by her identity as a colored woman and her desire to shift the cultural stereotypes associated with this identity. The prejudices and discrimination she has experienced and the shared stories of women from her community motivate her investigation into ways of shifting the perception of womanhood through her art practice. Mejia’s artwork depicts empowered women, though her approach to the portrayal of empowerment varies within each work. Some of her portraits are of real women proudly expressing their individual narratives, while others are invented portraits that reference real women, but emphasize empowerment in womanhood instead of any individual identity. Her portraits of real women strive to capture their stories, while her invented portraits capture “an empowered women,” minimizing indicators of identity beyond their womanhood. By consistently portraying female empowerment, Mejia aims to challenge the stereotype of womanhood as weakness and redefine it as strength. Mejia’s work has been exhibited locally and internationally, including venues such as Sin City Gallery, Life is Beautiful Festival, The Mob Museum, the Springs Preserve, UNLV, PublicUs, and Bateau Daphne (France).
