Uncanny Times: Looking Back, Looking Forward features new work by artists in the Artnauts Collective, along with special guests. Artists ponder these uncanny times we are in and consider, though our current times seem unrecognizable, whether there are recognizable patterns from the past. What has remained the same or cycled back? What new paradigms will we forge? These reflections span global history and the past 25 years of the Artnauts’ mission of social change, lessons learned, and dreams for the future.

“This exhibition focuses on how our present time in the history of the United States has become a crisis of contention dividing our country. The familiar has become unfamiliar. Hate dominates life as we are inundated with media reports that bring this into consciousness on a daily basis. The Artnauts seek to create images that counter the present zeitgeist in hopes of healing our society with alternative visions. The Artnauts Collective has had exhibitions in places of contention throughout the world. We are exhibiting in our home country because the United States has become a place of contention. The coronavirus and the present situation in race relations make it imperative for the Artnauts to exhibit work that helps us address these issues.” - Dr. George Rivera, Artnauts founder and chief curator

Uncanny Times is curated by Cecily Cullen, director and curator of the Center for Visual Art, Metropolitan State University of Denver. The exhibition is organized by the Center for Visual Art in cooperation with the Artnauts Collective.

Associated Artist

• Michael Dixon

Associated News

• October 14, 2021
  Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative
  University of Michigan
  October 14, 2021
  


• October 14, 2021
  Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative


• September 24, 2021
  Artnauts Collective
  Uncanny Times: Looking Back, Looking Forward
  Group Exhibition
  September 24, 2021
  September 25 - November 13, 2021


• August 28, 2020
  False Choice
  Foothills Art Center
  August 28 through November 1, 2020
  


• April 7, 2019
  Michael Dixon: I, Too, Sing America
  GalleriesNow.net
  April 7, 2019
  
  


• March 22, 2019
  Press Release - Michael Dixon - I, Too, Sing America


• January 10, 2019
  Announcing 2019 Joan Mitchell Center Artists-in-Residence
  Joan Mitchell Foundation, 01/10/2019
  
  


• January 10, 2019
  Joan Mitchell Foundation Names 2019 Artists-in-Residence
  ArtNews, 01/10/2019
  Annie Armstrong
  
  


• October 1, 2018
  Michael Dixon: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same - African American Art After the Civil Rights Movement
  Framingham State University, 10/01/2018
  
  


• August 20, 2018
  Michael Dixon
  Can You Hear Me Now
  St. Louis Community College Florissant Valley, 08/20/2018
  
  


• June 30, 2018
  Michael Dixon
  The Makings of a Man
  Madelife Gallery, 06/30/2018
  
  


• February 16, 2018
  Dairy Arts Center shows mark Black History Month
  Boulder exhibits tackle difficult, pressing questions regarding race
  Daily Camera, 02/16/2018
  Christy Fantz
  
  


• January 26, 2018
  Just give a damn
  The Dairy’s latest exhibit looks at race and identity in modern America
  Boulder Weekly, 02/01/2018
  Amanda Moutinho
  
  


• May 15, 2017
  Common Dates: Türk Afro-Turkish Portraits Ortak
  Nisantasi News, 05/15/2017
  
  


• May 15, 2017
  Common Dates: Afro-Turkish Portraits Exhibition
  But Dergisi, 05/15/2017
  
  


• May 13, 2017
  11th Day of Dana Celebrated with enthusiasm
  Konak Belediyesi, 05/13/2017
  
  


• March 28, 2017
  GLOBALOCATION: The Urgent Mission of Artnauts Collective
  The University of Texas at Austin, 03/28/20107
  


• February 7, 2017
  Love-Themed Benefit for Zygote Press This Thursday Night
  CleveScene.com, 02/07/2017
  Josh Usmani
  
  


• January 17, 2017
  Globalocation: Celebrating 20 Years of Artnauts
  Artnauts.org, 01/17/2017
  
  


• January 17, 2017
  Globalocation: Celebrating 20 Years of Artnauts
  J. Willard Marriott Library
  The University of Utah, 01/17/2017
  
  The University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library will host the art exhibition Globalocation: Celebrating 20 Years of Artnauts, Jan. 20-March 3.
  
  Artnauts, an art collective formed 20 years ago by George Rivera, professor of art and art history at the University of Colorado, Boulder, consists of 300 global artists who serve as goodwill ambassadors, acknowledging and supporting victims of oppression worldwide. Their creativity has generated over 230 exhibitions across five continents. Five faculty members from the U’s Department of Art and Art History are members of the collective, Sandy Brunvand, Beth Krensky, V. Kim Martinez, Brian Snapp and Xi Zhang.
  
  Globalocation derives from “Globalocational Art” — a concept used by the Artnauts to refer to their exhibitions in international venues. It is the mission of the Artnauts to take art to places of contention, and this anniversary exhibition is a sample of places where they have been and themes they have addressed.
  
  “The Artnauts could not exist without the commitment of the artists in the collective to a common vision of the transformative power of art,” said Rivera. “The Artnauts make their contribution with art that hopefully generates a dialogue with an international community on subjects that are sometimes difficult to raise.”
  
  Krensky, associate department chair of the Art and Art History Department, had the opportunity to travel with Rivera in Chile as part of an Artnauts project, working with mothers who were searching for their children who had mysteriously disappeared during a time of political unrest.
  
  “When I travelled to Chile in 1998, George and I spent an afternoon with the Mothers of the Disappeared, and the meeting changed my life,” said Krensky. “It was from that moment on that I placed a picture of them on my desk to look at every day. I was so moved by what they each had lost — a son, a brother, a father — and yet what remained for them was a deep, deep well of love. They were fierce warriors and stood up to the government to demand the whereabouts and information of the people who had disappeared, but they lived within profound love.”
  
  The 20th anniversary exhibition at the Marriott Library is a retrospective of the traveling works the Artnauts have toured around the globe. The exhibition will be located on level three of the library. The opening reception is open to the public and will be held on Friday, Jan 20, 4-6 p.m. Rivera will speak at 4 p.m.
  
  


• January 9, 2017
  Let's Talk About Love, Baby!: Zygote Press brings traveling 'Love Library' to Cleveland
  Cleveland.com, 01/09/2017
  Nikki Delamotte
  
  


• July 13, 2016
  Zeitgeist: Social, Political,Cultural by Artnauts collective
  Allevents.in, 07/13/2016
  
  


• July 13, 2016
  Zeitgeist: Social, Political, Cultural Greatmore Studios, Cape Town, South Africa
  ContemporaryAnd.co, 0/13/2016
  
  


• July 1, 2016
  2017 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Recipient Michael Dixon


• May 27, 2016
  Highlights from the Sharpe-Walentas Open Studios
  Blouin Art Info Blogs, 05/25/2016
  Taylor Dafoe
  
  


• May 18, 2016
  'Unapologetic Negritude' free art show at Anacostia Arts Center
  WJLA.com, 05/18/2016
  
  


• May 18, 2016
  Anacostia Art Center Presents Unapologetic Négritude Group Exhibition
  EastCityArt.com, 05/18/2016
  
  


• May 13, 2016
  Abstraction and realism at David Richard
  Santa Fe New Mexican
  Pasatiempo, 05/13/2016
  Michael Abatemarco
  
  


• March 14, 2016
  Michael Dixon: A Discussion About Race, Representation, and Biracial Identity
  Or Does It Explode, 03/14/2016
  Tasha Matthews
  


• September 1, 2015
  The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program - 2015 Artists
  The Studio Program, 09/01/2015