Exhibit on view beginning Oct. 20, artist in residence Nov. 3-5
emet ezell
The University of Central Arkansas will welcome Berlin-based visual artist and writer emet ezell this fall for a residency featuring a public exhibition, poetry reading, artist talk and reception, as well as several student workshops and class visits.
“It’s such an incredible opportunity to host emet ezell, a world-renowned artist living in Berlin, here at UCA,” Clayton Crockett, professor and director of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, said. “Their work deals with the challenges of identity and memory in the wake of devastating loss and focuses on how fragile our lives and all of our material works are, and it is inspired by Judaism and other spiritual and poetic resources both in paper and in print.”
Ezell’s exhibition, “Forgetting Is a Forward Motion,” will be on view Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Nov. 20, in the Carmen T. Thompson Gallery at the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 2150 Bruce Street, Conway. Ezell will be on campus Tuesday, Nov. 3, through Thursday, Nov. 5, for a poetry workshop, class visits and two public events. All events are open to the public and free of charge.
The full schedule for ezell’s residency is as follows:
- Weekdays, Oct. 19-Nov. 20, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. — Public Exhibit on View: “Forgetting Is a Forward Motion,” by emet ezell, Carmen T. Thompson Gallery, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1:40 p.m. — Student Event: Poetry Workshop with emet ezell, Lavender Library, Main Hall 203.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m. — Student Event: Class Visit with Religion, Science, Technology Students, Irby 311.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m. — Public Event: Poetry Reading by emet ezell, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts, Room 167.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 9:25 a.m. — Student Event: Class Visit with Philosophy of the Arts, Irby Hall 311.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m. — Public Event: Artist Talk followed by Reception with emet ezell, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts, Room 167.
Emet ezell is a visual artist and writer based in Berlin, Germany. Ezell’s practice explores themes of devotion, dispossession, ruin and return. Trained under Polish typographer Robert Sawa, ezell works with the letter as the visual and tactile unit of composition and is committed to handmade paper and print. In 2024, ezell was awarded the literature stipend from the Berlin Senate for their monograph “Wretched Heaven,” which has recently been shortlisted for publication by Book Works.
Ezell’s past residencies include the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Pedvāle International Art Park and the Vermont Studio Center. Ezell has received fellowships and funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the New Jewish Culture Fellowship, the Latvian Reparations Fund and the European Commission for Culture and Creativity.
As the winner of the 2021 Gloria E. Anzaldúa Poetry Prize, ezell has been featured in The American Poetry Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poetry Daily and Hand Papermaking Magazine, among other publications. Last summer, ezell’s solo exhibition, “Destruction Is and Is Not Forever,” debuted in Sabile, Latvia. Ezell also performed at the 61st Venice Biennale as part of the project “Bound with the Living,” curated by Koyo Kouoh for “In Minor Keys.”
More information about the residency is available by contacting Crockett at claytonc@uca.edu.