“Society in Focus” at the UTSA ARTS Cube

The lively atmosphere of the UTSA ARTS Cube contradicted the seriousness of the artwork’s subject matter at the opening Thursday evening. Society in Focus features 35 University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) School of Art students who explore aspects of society, culture, and politics. Excellently curated by MFA candidates Jason Brown and Hannah L. Prince, the exhibition features artworks with strong viewpoints and ideas, highlighting students from both the undergraduate and graduate programs at UTSA. For Brown, the idea spurred after the results of the 2024 election, and later he brought in Prince. Society in Focus is also a response to the recent developments of the current administration’s executive order to remove ‘anti-American’ artworks as well as the Rhode Island’s School of Design’s relocation of a pro-Palestine students’ exhibit.

I conducted short interviews with some of the artists at the opening, who described their works to me and answered one of the following questions:

1.     How does your piece relate to Society in Focus?

2.     What can the audience learn from your piece in the exhibition?

Isaac Grigar, Opposition Like An Aging Condor, 2025. Image courtesy of Madison Vrazel.

Isaac Grigar’s Opposition Like An Aging Condor is composed of repurposed canvas stretched over wood panel, and he purposefully uses materials such as acetone to then destroy parts of the work. Two strips of material wrap around the piece as if an attempt to hold the damaged parts together. Grigar’s piece not only challenges the art historical canon by its’ destruction, but also the idea of the American dream that is often never realized to many. Anthony Figueroa’s sculptural/new media work Moldavian Fields, reflects a trip to Moldova last summer. While there, he set up a camera to record, which he uses in the video portion of his work. The video features a man, running away from something, disappears after the sound of a gunshot. Figueroa grabs the viewer’s attention by not only immersing them into the video’s world, but also deciding how the story of the man ends.

Megan Bynum, Torso Apparatus I, 2025. Image courtesy of Madison Vrazel.

Megan Bynum examines how women are often affected by the constructs of society in Torso Apparatus I. The photograph visibly shows the marks left by the device, while the metal corset-like device that made the marks sits on a pedestal. Society constantly criticizes women about their bodies and often impress these standards onto them. Isabella Lopez’s We All Burn Out are two wooden sculptural posts carved down and burned using a blow torch to resemble burnt matches. The piece centers around different kinds of burnout, whether physical or emotional, and is a reminder to take care of oneself and to not burn down to the wick as the lying horizontal match represents. Kataleena Garrett’s charcoal drawing, Chris, explores her experience as a Black woman and discrimination against Black Americans. Garrett has relatives in Milwaukee (including her cousin, the model, Chris), where through the government’s use of segregation and redlining tactics, a large portion of Black Americans now reside.

Isabella Brown, Her, 2024. Image courtesy of Madison Vrazel.

Isabella Brown references African masks and Venus figures in Her. The coil built, earthenware clay bust embraces femininity and African cultures and serves as a reminder of not being ashamed of expressing oneself in society. Eastyn Knight experimented with ink and watercolor to create the mythological Cyclops Polyphemus. Knight’s interest in Greek mythology and classic literature helped create this piece and reflects on aspects of Polyphemus’s story of vengeance and betrayal. Lauren Ybarra’s Washed Bambino, a performance video, explores a previous rule within the Catholic Church regarding the condemnation of unbaptized babies. Whereas the previous belief was that unbaptized babies were condemned to hell, they now have a chance at a heavenly salvation. Washed Bambino features these decisions made by the Vatican and the men that lead the Church, but also reflects decisions made within current government leadership.

Society in Focus encourages the viewer to stop and think about current relevant narratives through subjects such as femininity, race, body image, human rights, and religion. The curators create a safe space at the UTSA ARTS Cube for these different types of expression, allowing the artists to exhibit artworks that push the boundaries of society.

A closing reception for Society in Focus will be on April 10, 2025, from 6-8pm at the UTSA ARTS Cube. Please contact Jason Brown at 415-254-1999 for an appointment to see the exhibition before the closing.