'LOSS + FOUND' Exhibition Displayed Feb. 18 Through March 18 in Vol Walker Hall

Kwendeche

"Chejudoe" is part of a collection of tribal masks created by Kwendeche.

The exhibition "LOSS + FOUND: an artful journey by kwendeche" will be on display Friday, Feb. 18, through March 18, in the Fred and Mary Smith Exhibition Gallery in Vol Walker Hall on the U of A campus. This is part of the public exhibition series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

An opening reception will be held at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 18.

"LOSS + FOUND" is a collection of work by the artist and architect Kwendeche. Spanning time, place and experience, the pieces presented are both reflective of profound personal grief — the loss of loved ones, parents, family and friends — and driven by the artist's lifelong self-imposed challenge to create non-traditional art through found objects.

The furniture, neckties, tribal masks, flame-manipulated photographs, sculptural easels and abstract paintings on display here are the result of Kwendeche's early explorations with repurposed materials: piles of discarded Kodak film; chrome-plated car bumpers; metal augers and disc bases; pieces of heavy scrap metal from an East St. Louis, Illinois, steel mill and unwanted water heater lids from an adjacent site. A sustained creative practice was emboldened by these found objects and formative personal experiences, including the cultural renaissance of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s and two decades living and photographing amid the diverse cultures of Southeast Asia.

This exhibition offers a glimpse of Kwendeche's creative work as influenced by his past adventures, his family and other established artists that include Ed Love, Calixte Dakpogan, Thornton Dial and Jackson Pollock, and in respect and gratitude to those who have guided and will continue to guide his path.

Kwendeche (pronounced ka when day chay) is an artist and architect from Little Rock. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Howard University, in Washington, D.C., where he studied under Ed Love, the renowned metal sculptor at Howard's College of Fine Arts, and was awarded the Faculty Excellence in Design Award and the Bronze Alpha Rho Chi Medal upon graduation. In 1982, he created produksi arymeus (the identity to all of his creative work).

Kwendeche's exhibited work includes: RHWHL, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, in 1985; ELEVEN ABSTRACT CHAIRS, Tolodong Bawah Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1988; KURSBENI di T.I.M., Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Centre, Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1991; lima-couor'sea, The Invitational 2002 An Art Exhibit, Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas; SPICE PHOTO EXHIBIT, Architecture for Humanities / Rio Gallery, New York, New York, in 2005; bebenchedbolingbal and bebenchedrotagilla, The Bernice Garden Bench Project, Little Rock, in 2012; and rhwhlwithandwithoutrhwhl, ESSE Purse Museum, Little Rock, in 2015.

He has worked as a project architect for Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum in St. Louis, Missouri, and Hong Kong, and for PT Parama Loka Consultants in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Curatorial design for this exhibition is by Kwendeche, with exhibition design by Kwendeche and Alexandra Waller, an instructor in architecture in the Fay Jones School. Exhibition coordinator is Alexandra Waller, and exhibition consultant is Ngozi Brown, an instructor in architecture in the Fay Jones School.

Admission to the exhibition is free. The exhibition gallery is located on the first floor of Vol Walker Hall, and it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.