Join Fenwick Gallery for a welcome back reception and celebration of RE(FORM)ER, a joint exhibition from artists Steven Luu and Jorge Bañales!  

From 5-6pm, stop by Fenwick Gallery (in Fenwick Library) to meet the artists, enjoy refreshments, and learn more the exhibit and upcoming events in the gallery.

From 6-7PM, the exhibit curators will lead a conversation and discussion of the exhibit in the Fenwick Library Main Reading Room (2001, 2nd floor).

This event is supported by the University Libraries, Mason Exhibitions, and Welcome2Mason.

Registration is free but strongly recommended.

Join us to celebrate the launch of Late Comeback Press's newest publication, Around & Around, and a closing reception for the exhibition blue, as a feeling. 

Around & Around is a comic about the anxiety around aging and feeling a stagnation in life. Designed as a closed accordion booklet that has no obvious beginning or end, it reads like an endless loop of thoughts.

The book was produced at George Mason University and printed in a combination of risograph, silkscreen, and letterpress in an edition of 100 copies, which will be available for sale at the reception. 

This event is free and open to the public—please register at the link below!

ABOUT THE PROJECT 

In Spring 2024, Late Comeback Press co-founders Rachna Soun and Caroline Kim served as artists-in-residence for AVT 446 // Dynamic Publishing, a course in Mason’s School of Art that introduces students to the art of publishing in collaboration with a visiting artist. During the semester, the students produced their own short comic stories and received regular feedback from Caroline and Rachna. The students also witnessed the artists produce Around & Around, from initial, loose sketches, to finished book.  

In parallel with the class and publication, Fenwick Gallery organized the exhibition blue, as a feeling, which presents selections from Late Comeback’s catalog with works from Soun and Kim, along with artists Janet Shin, Neil Neill, and Cam Del Rosario.

Join us for a translation workshop in celebration of the exhibition Metamorphosis, led by poet and translator Heather Green (Asst. Prof., School of Art).

Participants will consider a poem, originally written by Sappho in ancient Greece, then translated into Latin, more than a thousand years later, by Catullus. After reading these poems and discussing their history of metamorphosis across languages and time, participants will create their own translations, whether speculative, visual, or through a contemporary literary lens.

LOCATION: Fenwick Library Main Reading Room (2001)

Registration is free but required. All supplies will be provided!

Join us for a conversation with Jennifer Lillis, one of the artists featured in the Fenwick Gallery exhibition Metamorphosis!

• 11:00AM-1:00PM: Coffee and casual conversation in Fenwick Gallery

• 1:30PM-3:30PM: Paper Casting Workshop at Mason School of Art, Room 1009 (Printmaking & Book Arts Studio)

All snacks and materials are provided. Participants are also welcome to bring their own 3D object to cast (natural materials like wood and stone are recommended).

Registration is free but required. Sign up below!

Join us for a celebration of the exhibit "Flow of Tradition: Chinese Folk Art in the Lunar New Year" in Fenwick Gallery!

Hosted by Drs. Lijun Zhang (Asst. Professor, Department of English) and Hongmei Sun (Assoc. Professor, Modern and Classical Languages), this event will feature a short presentation from the exhibit's curators, Drs. Lili Zhu and Tao Pang, followed by a light reception, tea ceremony, and crafts and activities.

This event is co-sponsored with Fenwick Gallery and Mason Libraries, the Department of English, the Folklore Program, Folklore Roundtable, and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

Full schedule and activities TBA.

Registration free but recommended.

What’s life like after art school? Join us for a conversation and live comics reading with three Mason alumni: Lee Strawberry (BFA '19), Ash Smith (BA '22), and Sylvia Rossi (BFA '23)! Attendees will learn a little more about being working cartoonists, and how these creators keep their practice going.

Following the discussion, Sylvia Rossi will lead a comics workshop and Risograph printing demonstration from 12-1:30PM.

Registration recommended, no experience needed. Snacks and supplies will be provided.

This event is sponsored by Mason Libraries, Mason Exhibitions, and University Life.

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Lee Strawberry (BFA New Media, 2019) is a Virginia-based artist who uses artwork as a diary to record memories and emotions. View more of Lee's work at leestrawberry.com or @commandurr14 on Instagram.

Ash Smith (BA Drawing, 2022) is an illustrator and comics artist based in Virginia, mixing magic with the mundane. See more of Ash's work at amasmith26.wixsite.com/octopars or on Instagram @octopars.

Sylvia Rossi (BFA Printmaking, 2023) is a DC-based cartoonist/comic artist and printmaker. Find Sylvia's work on Instagram @veronikaspoons.

Fenwick Gallery is excited to host PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, an exhibit featuring work from Chicago-based small press comics publisher Perfectly Acceptable Press. This exhibition explores the contemporary landscape of Risograph printing, presented through a broad overview of Perfectly Acceptable’s full archives and an in-depth exploration of one book: the award-winning comic Grip by Lale Westvind. 

Join us at 1:00PM for an opening reception in Fenwick Gallery, followed at 1:30PM by an artist talk with Matt Davis, founder and operator of Perfectly Acceptable Press. A short Risograph workshop will follow in the School of Art Printmaking and Book Arts Studio. Registration is free but strongly recommended.

Join us for a closing celebration of Chen Bi’s mural project at Fenwick Gallery!

“We Crawl with Four Paws: The Pretenders in a Catopia” has been a summer-long project from artist Chen Bi, an MFA candidate in Mason’s School of Art and graduate assistant for Fenwick Gallery.

Bi will give a short artist’s talk about her process and the story behind the mural project and answer audience questions. Light refreshments will be served.

Join us for an evening of poetry and art!

In conjunction with the exhibition Cities and Memory, Fenwick Gallery and Mason Exhibitions will host a poetry reading and discussion of ekphrasis, considering the relationships between the verbal and visual arts. Cities and Memory features the visionary architectural drawings of James Rossant, paired with poetry from his daughter, Juliette Rossant.

Ekphrasis: A Celebration of Poetry and Art will feature short readings and conversations with Mason faculty and Juliette Rossant, followed by a reception in Fenwick Gallery.

This event will be held in person at Fenwick Library on GMU’s Fairfax campus. We will begin at 7:00PM in Fenwick Gallery with a welcome and review of the exhibition, followed by the readings and a reception in the Fenwick Main Reading Room from 7:30-8:30PM.

Registration is encouraged for this event: sign up here!

Visiting artist Abdulrahman (Abi) Naanseh will be joined by Dr. Yasemin Ipek from Global Affairs, Dr. Bassam Haddad from Middle East and Islamic Studies, and Dr. Lisa Marie Gilman from English and Folklore for a discussion about Syria’s current and historical conflicts, paths forward, and how Abi’s artworks may illustrate these discussions.

Abi Naanseh is Mason Exhibitions and the School of Art’s Artist Protection Fund Fellow-in-Residence. The Artist Protection Fund sponsors artists in threatened countries and places them with host institutions in safer countries. He will share what led him to flee Syria, and the stories and experiences that inspire his Arabic calligraphy artworks.

Fenwick Library Main Reading Room on Wednesday, November 16, 6-8pm

RSVP: go.gmu.edu/naansehfacultypanel

Event Schedule:

5:30pm-6:10pm - View the exhibition downstairs
6:15pm-7:15pm - Presentations start in Main Reading Room upstairs
7:15pm-8:00pm - Open discussion and Q&A

Join us in Fenwick Gallery for a welcome reception and meet & greet with artist Abdulrahman Naanseh! Light refreshments will be provided.

Fenwick Gallery is located in the lobby of Fenwick Library, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA. The closest parking garages on campus are the Rappahannock or Shenandoah visitor parking decks.