Welcome to CCU's Cube Galleries

The Cube Galleries are a series of satellite, mini – galleries found on the campus of Coastal Carolina University. An extension of the Department of Visual Arts RRB Gallery, we are dedicated to creating opportunities for approachable interaction to contemporary art for non-traditional visitors. The Cube Galleries demystify the gallery space in order to foster expanded dialogs across the CCU community and beyond.  

Much like the Free Little Libraries that have popped up in neighborhoods throughout the country, The Cube Galleries bring contemporary art to the people where they are. The Cube Galleries at CCU were inspired by the Art Viewing Boxes of artist Jackson Martin, Suzanne Dittenber, Luke Whitlatch, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville placed in and around Ashville, NC. During the summer of 2020, Martin and his collaborators placed art boxes to show work outside of the white box of a traditional gallery. Coastal Carolina University has built five gallery boxes, The Cube Galleries, to create spaces on campus for students, faculty, and staff to experience artwork created by artists in the community and beyond our campus.  

Current Exhibitions                      

Jan. 9 – Feb. 16, 2023 

Magnum in Parvo

Magnum in Parvo explores the wonders of miniatures in this collaborative exhibition organized by Assistant Professors of Visual Art Jeremy Brooks, Yvette Arendt, and Meghan O'Connor. The six Cube Galleries present various real-world art museum/gallery settings at 1/12 scale. From the historic, salon style richness of a herringbone wood-floored room, to the stark white walls of a cemented contemporary gallery, viewers will experience works from multiple studio arts courses. The mini-gallery movement began before the pandemic but became an accessible way for art to be appreciated while institutions were closed. These gallery diorama's pay homage to the history of miniatures and the impact Mini-Galleries have had on bringing artwork to the people.

Participating courses include - ARTS 231 Life Drawing I, ARTS 207 Silkscreen Printing, ARTS 204 Introduction to Ceramics: Hand Building, ARTS 211 Introduction to Painting and ARTS 313 Portrait Painting and Ceramic Area Student Work Studies.

Next Exhibits

Coming Soon  ... 

Feb. 26 – March 29, 2023                 

David Bogus

In conjunction with the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery, The Cubes presents the work of David Bogus.

The Bogus Boutique is a lifestyle brand featuring unique brightly colored ceramic objects and status symbols. These everyday objects foretell the ironic codification of consumer culture as it embodies our current society. In The Bogus Boutique, high heel shoes, punk rock lock necklaces, anchors, oversized fishing hooks, suitcases, cigarette lighters, cases of beer, life preservers, telephones, knives, perfume bottles, and cocktail garnishes are outrageously overpriced objects as viable subjects for branding and art. Questioning the notion that ordinary objects can become an “object of art,” Bogus encourages a debate about authorship and originality, dissolving the distinction between sanctioned museum pieces and iconic everyday consumed objects.

David Bogus was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a BFA from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. He has taught at The University of Idaho, The University of Wyoming, Texas A&M International University, Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Florida.

April 8 – May 8, 2023                        

Chroma 

The Coastal Carolina Student Organization, Chroma, presents work from selected members for this group exhibition. Chroma's basis in art and design expands beyond the Visual Arts department with a mission to provide exhibition opportunities for it's members along with community outreach. Students participating in this exhibition are from across disciplines and material exploration.

Past Exhibitions

The Denizens

Brandon Sanderson

Oct. 2 – Nov. 3 

A native of Kansas, Brandon Sanderson split his formative years between rural Kansas and Colorado. He has participated in more than 500 exhibitions since 2006, including 90 international shows. He maintains a private printmaking and drawing studio in rural Red Springs, North Carolina.

The Denizens series explores human folly. The characters are absurdly constructed of mechanical and organic elements. As with us, they are unaware of an awkward and ill-conceived nature. Nonetheless, these denizens belong to a community, a neighborhood. Similar to Goya's Caprichos, these manifestations emerge while the rational mind sleeps. In the late evenings and early mornings, these creatures dance, fly and fight.

They also reference the interaction of mechanical and organic parts within us and in the surrounding world. The tools we create have gradually become physically integrated into our bodies. Having artificial parts such as pins in a knee and a reconstructed inner ear, I find the android and automaton to be an appropriate symbol of our capacity for alienation and devastation but also of the ability for growth through constant education.

Site-Sensitive Collaborations. 

Nov. 6 – Dec. 8   
                 

Site-Sensitive Collaborations is an exhibition of installations built by students in Arts 104-03 – Fundamentals of Art II. Students collaborate to create installations for each Cube gallery on CCU's campus using wire, textiles and other found objects. These installations respond to each Cube's location in some way. 

Image Credit: Sandrine Schaefer, "Gestures of Greeting No. 1 (terrestrial)" 2022, photo by CCU photography

Apocalyptic Mythologies

Aug 21, 2022 – Sept. 21, 2022        

Apocalyptic Mythologies is a portfolio exchange organized by Professor Rachael Bower from Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, TX  and Assistant Professor Meghan O'Connor in the Visual Art Department at Coastal Carolina University.  A portfolio exchange is a suite of prints, usually addressing a common theme, with uniform size requirements, an edition size, and sometimes, but most often not, a limitation on the media used.  Usually, the media is open, as long as it incorporates some form of traditional printmaking. Both classes voted on a theme and "Apocalyptic Mythologies" was born!  Each participant created a 7.5 x 11" image incorporating a fine print process, meaning that there is a matrix, such as a woodblock, or silkscreen stencil involved in the process.  The edition size for this portfolio exchange is 12, with one set being donated to the permanent collection at Northwest Vista College, another set donated to Claw and Feather Press at Coastal Carolina University, and students each getting a copy of student work from another institution.

Exchange Participants included:

Coastal Carolina University Featuring ARTS 200, Spring 2022 - Assistant Professor of Art Meghan O'Connor, Brianna Byrd, Madison Elliott, Emalyne Fox, Hayden Giles, Dan Kraus, Frances Ludwig, Bre McNamara. Izzy Rice, Nick Turner

Northwest Vista College Featuring ARTS 2333, Spring 2022 - Professor Rachael M Bower, Anthony Banchs, Isabella Bustamante, Fernando Escamilla, Ana Flores, America Garcia, Kaitlyn De la Garza, Clara Lewis-Valero, Cynthia Meheran, Alexander Peden 

Ceramophile

May 13 - August 12, 2022

Samantha Senig, Senior
Materials: hand built stoneware covered in denim
Date: 2022
Course: Advanced Ceramics II

The Highest Elevation Exhibition

April 11 -  May 10, 2022 

Brant Barrett 

This project began as an investigation of our local county landfill and grew to encompass all Horry County Solid Waste Authority’s operations. It was a learning experience. I named the project “The Highest Elevation” because at 120 feet above sea level, the landfill is the highest point of land in Horry County. It is currently permitted to be 250 feet.

The purpose of the project is to inspire questions about our responsibility to the environment, as individuals and as a community. 

To see more work by this artist visit www.brantbarrettphotography.com.

Breaking Rank 

August 18 – September 23, 2021 

Sarah Bouchard, Awarded Best of Show, Senior Studio Capstone Spring 2021

This body of work, titled Breaking Rank, explores the transitionary periods of one’s physical and mental health brought about by previous manipulation in the military. Through an investigation of identity, we can observe what can potentially be lost or stunted due to the rigors of such intense mental abuse–there is a certain internal shift that occurs when a person is torn down and broken purposefully to conform to this narrative. By referencing military aircraft, I highlight phases one may go through both during and after active-duty time; that is, a shifting of mentality and emotional response. It is common for military personnel to remain detached and restrict their ability to express emotions or feelings. However, just because an individual is broken (or was broken) does not mean that they cannot find a way to express themselves freely and comfortably. This work utilizes my personal experiences in the military, but also expands to others with similar struggles. With the use of copper, pewter, and other materials, I create abstract forms that symbolize the disciplined and rigid nature of a military mindset, while simultaneously introducing elegant curves that reinforce a concept of liberation from restraint. Rivets and fabrication are used to unify each piece and make subtle reference to the exterior construction of aircraft. Though a manipulative past can cause one to become emotionless and distant, with time and introspection, the ability to express and feel can begin to flourish as they once did prior to training. 

For more work by this artist visit: https://www.sarahbouchard.org/. 

Ink to Surface 

October 4 – 29, 2021 

Meghan O’Connor, Printmaking ARTS 207, led by Assistant Professor of Visual Arts 

For this project, participants were challenged with working with both representational and non-representational imagery.  The works you see explore physical layers, actual and implied depth, printing on alternate surfaces and materials, and mono-printing (playing with variation vs. a matrix).  This is the first project of the Fall 2021 semester in ARTS 201 Silkscreen Printing class. 

Realism and Beyond

November 8 - December 10, 2021

Led by Yvette Arendt, Assistant Professor, Student Selections from ARTS 211 Introduction to Painting and ARTS 312 Intermediate Painting, Abstraction. 

Rooted in the traditions of painting, this exhibition explores Visual Art student's beginning their exploration into acrylic paint as an artistic medium and students working outside their comfort levels exploring abstraction in the historical cannon of painting. 

New Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition  

February 25 - March 25, 2022                 

The Cube Galleries present the work of six Assistant Professors of Visual Arts who have recently joined our Coastal Carolina University faculty – Jeremy Brooks, Ashlyn Pope, Sandrine Schaefer, Katie Lupton, Yvette Arendt, and Meghan O’Conner.

This cohort of newly hired professors showcase an award-winning range of study from Graphic Design, Ceramics, Printmaking and Performance. As part of the exhibition, Asst. Professor Sandrine Schaefer will perform Gestures of Greeting, a series of place-based performance art actions sited near the Cube at Britton Hall. Material and sonic traces from these actions will accumulate in the Cube over the month. Performances to occur on March 3, 17, and 24 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

This project would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts between Assistant Professor Yvette Arendt, Department of Visual Arts, design and construction by Ron Hinson, CCU Facilities, T. Rein Mungo, Director of Facilities Planning and Management, and Associate Dean Easton Selby Edwards College. 

 Want to find the CUBES? 

Contact 

Yvette Arendt 
Assistant Professor of Visual Art 
yarendt@coastal.edu | 843-349-2786

James Arendt 
Director, Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery 
jarendt@coastal.edu | 843-349-6409

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