Art exhibit to spotlight media overload

More than 2,000 pieces of clippings from various magazines and other printed materials will stand nine feet high and span across 45 feet of wall space in the Grand Valley Art Gallery beginning January 16.

The gigantic collage of framed images is a single piece of artwork created by Nayda Collazo-Llorens, the Art and Design Department's Stuart and Barbara Padnos Distinguished Artist in Residence.

The exhibition, entitled "Comfortably Numb,"will be on display through March 31, with an opening reception taking place January 19, from 5-7 p.m. in the Art Gallery, located in room 1121 in the Performing Arts Center.

There will be multiple supplemental events during the run of Comfortably Numb, including an Interdisciplinary Discussion Series, with sessions taking place on February 21 from 2:30-3:30 p.m., and February 23from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Both discussions will occur in the Art Gallery.

Grand Valley's award-winning New Music Ensemble will host a composition competition on Friday, March 17, from 7:30-9:30 p.m., also in the Art Gallery. During this event, the ensemble will perform one-minute pieces inspired by Comfortably Numb composed by Grand Valley students. Prizes will be awarded through a guest panel of judges and the listening audience.

Comfortably Numb serves as one of the culminating projects of Collazo-Llorens' residency, which will conclude at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.

"The work explores our perceptual engagement with the incessant media overload that we seem to seek and endure in our daily lives," said Collazo-Llorens.

Collazo-Llorens was named Artist-in-Residence in 2014. Endowed by Holland area businessman Stuart Padnos, and his late wife, Barbara, the position offers an opportunity to teach and mentor students in the Art and Design Department, as well as speak on campus and to the wider community.

"Being able to share research and collaborate with faculty and students from the Art and Design Department, and also from other disciplines at Grand Valley, has been the highlight of my residency," said Collazo-Llorens.

In her last semester as Artist-in-Residence at Grand Valley, Collazo-Llorens is collaborating with the Theater Department for its March production of Euripides' "Helen," for which she is producing a series of video projections. The play features a new translation of the "Helen of Troy" story by Diane Rayor, professor of Classics.

For more information on programs and events pertaining to the exhibition, visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.