Digital artists from throughout the United States are sending work to Digital artists from throughout the United States are sending work to Joplin for inclusion in the upcoming show at Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin. Binary Articulations opens at the center Thursday September 8 and runs through Friday, October 14.

The exhibit’s title refers to binary code used in computer programming. The code utilizes a complex arrangement of just two numbers, zero and one, to store data in a computer.

Digital photography captures images as electronic data — in binary code — without the use of film. The technology allows the artist to manipulate images via the computer by adding, subtracting or altering elements to produce new images. Some images in the exhibit have been further modified by hand.

The exhibit will feature landscapes, collage, and “scanograms” created with the aid of a flatbed scanner are among the 80-plus images to be displayed. Rhona Shand, Assistant Professor of Art at Pittsburg State University, curated the exhibit.

Participating artists include Maggie Taylor (Gainesville, FL), Gary S. Colby (LaVerne, CA), Ambler Hutchinson (Jacksonville Beach, FL), Eric Kunsman (Rochester, NY), John Paul Caponigro (coastal Maine), Christa Kreeger Bowden (Atlanta, Georgia), Nate Larson (Chicago, IL), Stephen Marc (Tempe, AZ), Susana Reisman (Rochester, NY), Trish Simonite (San Antonio, TX), and Rhona Shand (Pittsburg, KS).

Binary Articulations is sponsored by two New Jersey-based companies, Innova Digital Art, which manufactures paper for digital photography and art, and Shades of Paper, a distributor for digital fine art paper and supplies.

The two companies expressed interest in the exhibit in part because of the participation of Eric Kunsman, a photographer and book artist who teaches as an adjunct professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Kunsman will be in Joplin and Pittsburg to teach two classes during the run of the exhibit, Bookbinding and Pixel to Bookshelf. (Details follow this announcement.)

Getting to Know You also opens at Spiva Thursday, September 8. The Regional Focus Gallery exhibit will feature works of art from the collections of Spiva’s Board Members and staff. Binary Articulatons and Getting to Know You run through Friday, October 14. Binary Articulations will then travel to the University Gallery at PSU.

To add to the opening night festivities, bidding on 67 works in the 2005 12 x 12 Auction ends at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the annual event benefit the center. Online bidding at www.spivaarts.org will end at 4:30 that afternoon. The online auction is sponsored by The Joplin Globe.

Binary Articulations and Getting to Know You preview Thursday, September 8 at a reception for the artists, guests, sponsors and Spiva members. Jazz pianist James Benson will entertain. Bella Pepper’s Italian Kitchen will host the reception.

Spiva Center for the Arts is located at 3rd and Wall in downtown Joplin. Spiva galleries and gift shop are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is by voluntary contribution.

Financial assistance for Binary Articulations has been provided by Innova Digital Art, Shades of Paper, The Friends of St. Avips and the Missouri Arts Council, a State agency.

For more information, please call 417-623-0183.

Spiva Center for the Arts is located at Third and Wall in downtown Joplin. Gallery and gift shop hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.

George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
222 W. 3rd Street
Joplin, Mo 64801
Tel: 417-623-0183
Fax: 417-623-3805

spivaarts.org