Karl Umlauf, nationally recognized painter and sculptor, served as juror for our 38th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition. A prolific artist, he is known for his “cutting-edge, highly abstract” diverse work using a wide variety of materials including molded fiberglass. He received his BFA from The University of Texas in 1961 and a Cornell University MFA two years later. He has served as artist-in-residence at Baylor University since 1989.

Umlauf’s list of awards and honors over the last 43 years is extensive; most recently he received the 2005 Provost Award and Purchase Prize at the 30th Bradley International at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. He has enjoyed dozens of solo and group exhibitions across the country. The wide national demand for Umlauf as a lecturer and workshop conductor is a testament to his skills as a teacher. His work is owned by many public collections in diverse institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

For more information about Umlauf’s exciting body of work, visit his web page: www.karlumlauf.com and see Karl Umlauf: A Journey (2002).

Juror Statement

Having to reduce 585 submitted entries to 68 selected works for the 38th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition was difficult and challenging. Many works of conceptual originality and technical merit could not be included due to space limitations. To represent as many artists as possible, I chose only one work of each artist selected. In the many exhibitions I have judged, only five have been of this size and scope. Other than the fact that I’ve learned to follow a certain selection procedure, the decision to omit certain works has never been easy. The quality of work submitted could have, if space had permitted, greatly expanded the size of this exhibition.

From the sinewy and spontaneous painting Octopus to the bold sculpture Presence there is a highly imaginative use of materials as they express the forms and surfaces of the creative image. One will also find the intriguing images of Immigrant and The Dead and the Naked hard to turn away from. There are many more works of this caliber that require serious attention; however I will let you, the viewer, discover them for yourself.

Being selected as the juror for this exhibition is rewarding to me as an artist and I thank the Visual Arts Society of Texas for giving me the opportunity to review the work of these artists.

Karl Umlauf