"Stenciling Power"

Somewhere over the rainbow…is the face of Mormon founder Joseph Smith

Comments (0) By Blake Whitaker Thursday, Nov 19 2009

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Mormonism and South American leftist politics don't exactly mix like chocolate and peanut butter, but Rice student Michael Adair-Kriz will bring them together for his multimedia show "Stenciling Power." The anthropology doctoral candidate - who, as a gay Mormon and former Young Republican, knows something about unorthodox combinations - recently completed two years of field work in Santiago, Chile. "For my research, I decided to compare Mormonism and stencil artists as two opposite extremes of ideological battles we see going on...the idea of the left versus the right, of horizontalism versus hierarchy," he says. The show will feature photos of spray-paint stencil work in Santiago and a video interview with some of the artists, as well Adair-Kriz's original work. Highlights of the latter will include a 5-by-23-foot rainbow stencil featuring seven depictions of the face of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, as well as a provocative video installation that juxtaposes photos of the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City with very, shall we say, secular pictures. "Is it art? Is it ethnography? Is it anthropology?" Adair-Kriz asks. Decide for yourself. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Through December 15. Main Gallery Space, Rice Media Center, 6100 Main. For information, call 713-348-4882 or visit www.events.rice.edu. Free.
Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Starts: Nov. 16. Continues through Dec. 15, 2009