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Contacts: Sally Corbett, sacorbe@emory.edu, 404-727-6678
Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687
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The Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts hosts the reception of a new work by Emory Alum
For immediate release: Sept. 2, 2008
Contact: Contact: Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, Jessica Moore, Communications Coordinator, 404-727-1687, jkmoore@emory.edu
The Stipe Society, with the support of the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, will debut a painting commission by artist and Emory alumnus Kombo Chapfika (C’06) on Fri., Sept. 5 at 5:15 p.m., as part of the “Creativity & Arts Soiree.” The triptych, entitled “Plato’s Cave,” was inspired by a philosophy course the artist took while studying at Emory with Professor Richard Patterson. “Plato believed that one can only learn through dialectic reasoning and open-mindedness. A visual interpretation of that allegory seems poignant, relevant and appropriate for Emory as an educational institution,” states Chapfika.
Born in Harare, the capital city of in Zimbabwe, during the honeymoon period following the country’s independence in 1980, Chapfika began drawing before he could even write: “As years passed and I discovered new pretty things – glossy magazines, architecture, grimy textures, computer graphics, fabric patterns, etc. – I began to incorporate the various ideas and objects into my work.” After moving to the United States to study economics at Emory College, Chapfika went through what he describes as a “culture shock” that shifted many of his conceptions about the world. He sees parallels in the dynamic changes and polarity he felt during that time of adjustment in how he now approaches painting, an approach that ranges between “intuitive play and rigid technicality, realistic representation and dramatic abstraction, seriousness and humor.” Chapfika explained: “I draw inspiration from those around me, opinions on current events – identity, consumerism, boredom, isolation, exuberance and spirituality to form a chaotic bricolage of beautiful fragments.”
This commission by the Stipe Society, a multidisciplinary honors society for arts students, is the first permanent art installation funded by a student organization, a fact that delights 2007-08 Stipe Society President and 2008-09 Bobby Jones Scholar Meg McDermott. “The commission is one of the most exciting things Stipe has done in a while. Once we had decided to pursue some type of public art on campus, Kombo’s name came up immediately. He was a clear choice - an amazing painter whose work we had seen at the Stipe Soiree the year before, plus he was an Alum.,” described McDermott, “with the backing of key administrators, like Dean Joanne Brizinski and the CCA staff, we were able find a space for the painting as well as logistical support for an installation in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.”
The organizers agree that the Schwartz Center is the ideal location for the new work because of the high student traffic throughout the academic year. McDermott explained that she sees Stipe Society’s role on campus as being twofold: “One, to get people in the arts interested in other areas of the arts. My sense is that we all run around with blinders on, ignorant or uninterested in what others are doing within the broad spectrum of arts on campus. Two, it is critical to get non-arts students engaged, not only to respect the arts, but hopefully to enjoy and recognize their merits.” Stipe Society advisor, Dean Joanne Brzinski agrees that “the Stipe Society provides a way for student artists to support and contribute to the arts on Emory's campus. They sponsor a yearly Arts Week and Spring Soiree each year, provide grants to individual student artists, and have arranged for student art to be temporarily displayed in various places on campus. In commissioning a piece of art by an Emory alumnus, the Stipe Society is acting in that tradition. The fact that the artist is an Emory alumnus underlines the importance of student artists to the arts on Emory's campus.”
As for the CCA, this was a perfect occasion to demonstrate what the Center is all about. CCA Executive Director Leslie Taylor remarked, “I am so pleased that we had the opportunity at the inception of the Center to collaborate with Stipe in this commission. In addition to celebrating, nurturing and inspiring art on campus, the Center is also committed to producing and presenting works instigated by the various creative and performing campus arts groups; and fact that this commission contributes to the presence of public art on campus is very important to us.”
Please join us at the Creativity & Arts Soiree on Fri., Sept. 5, 2008 at 5:15 for a the public reception of Kombo Chapfika’s new work followed by an evening of mixing, mingling, and previewing the 2008-09 Arts at Emory season.
