Bandy:
Sharon Engelstein & Aaron Parazette

May 24 – July 20, 2002
USF Contemporary Art Museum

Bandy is a new project by Houston-based artists and USF alumni, Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette, specifically commissioned for USF CAM. Engelstein, known for her "inflatable" sculptures, will collaborate with Parazette, who creates colorful, layered wall paintings, to produce an exciting installation for the East Gallery.

Aaron Parazette is an Associate Professor of Painting in the Department of Art at the University of Houston. In 1987, he earned a BA in Fine Arts/Painting from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and then in 1990, an MFA from The Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA. Parazette moved to Houston in 1990 as a Core Fellow at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Since then he has taught at The Glassell School of Art, North Harris County Community College, and the University of Houston.

Parazette's selected solo exhibitions include New Paintings, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, 2002; South Swell, Angstrom Gallery, Dallas, 2000; Pleasure Provision, Texas Gallery, Houston, 1997; New Paintings, Texas Gallery, Houston, 1994; New Paintings, Kim Light Gallery, Los Angeles, 1993; Empty Abstraction, Lloyd Shin Gallery, Chicago, 1991; and Not Perfect, Davis McClain Gallery, Houston, 1991.

His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, for example, at The Smart Museum of Art, Chicago; The Loggia Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Hall Walls, Buffalo; LACE, Los Angeles; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; Art Pace, San Antonio; and McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas. In 1994 Parazette was awarded a Mid-American Arts Alliance, NEA Fellowship.

Sharon Engelstein lives and works in Houston, Texas. In 1987, she earned a BA in Fine Arts/Sculpture and a BA in Mass Communication/Journalism from the University of South Florida, Tampa. In 1990, she earned an MFA from The Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA.

Her selected solo shows include B'bleb, Locust Projects, Miami, 2002; New Works: 02.2, ArtPace, San Antonio, 2002; Inflated, Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, 2001; Piggy Back, Moody Gallery, Houston, 2001; and Boolean Unions, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 2000.

Selected group exhibitions include New Files New Territories, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, 2002; Works on Paper, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, 2001; Spunky, Exit Art, New York, 2001; 25th Anniversary Show, Moody Gallery, Houston, 2001; and The UFO Show, University Gallery, University of Illinois, Normal, 2001.

Visit Sharon Engelstein's website at www.sharonengelstein.com.

Visit Aaron Parazette's University of Houston faculty page at www.art.uh.edu/FACULTY_STAFF/Parazette.html.

The exhibition is made possible by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and the corporate sponsors and members of the USF Contemporary Art Museum.

Read the St. Petersburg Times review of Bandy published on May 30, 2002

Read the Tampa Tribune review of Bandy published on June 16, 2002

See the Exhibition Walkthrough at our Media Gallery