Artwork by Dan Pham. Photo: Viet H. Nguyen.
Kendall Ross, I Remember Thinking It Would Change
Artwork by Amy Sanders de Melo
ArtNow 2025: Materials and Boundaries
September 18, 2025–February 16, 2026
Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery
Organized by Guest Curator Alexa Goetzinger and Guest Curatorial Assistant Virginia Sitzes, Materials and Boundaries is the 2025 edition of the Oklahoma Contemporary ArtNow biennial exhibition, highlighting new and recent art from a selection of artists active in the state.
This exhibition is an exploration of Oklahoman identity showcasing work created by contemporary artists utilizing the themes of place and self with experimental materials and new practices.
Oklahoma has a complicated past which has shaped both the landscape and the people living within its boundaries. Many artists explore how place and identity can be manifested through materiality, but contemporary Oklahoma artists have an interesting position based on where they find themselves geographically. The state is not considered south, midwest, or west; Oklahomans are directly in the center—a difficult place to define while being an all-encompassing mixture and a nonentity.
The artists selected for ArtNow have a range of unique perspectives regarding their relationship to the Oklahoma cities in which they live and their broader familial histories of living within this state. They present thoughtful, nuanced, and methodical practices attuned to global trends while deeply responsive to place, site, and the positive change happening in the state of Oklahoma.
Artists in the exhibition
Amy Sanders de Melo | Andy Mattern | Behnaz Sohrabian | Carlos Barboza | Đan Lynh Phạm | Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman | Ebony Iman Dallas | Hank Ehrenfried | Hong Hong | Irmgard Geul | John Salame | Kalyn Barnoski | Katelynn Knick | Kendall Ross | Le'Andra LeSeur | Lindsey Cox | Maria Anderson | Marwin Begaye | Mary Claire Becker | Micah Wesley | Nic Annette Miller | Riley Joseph | Sarah Sullivan
About the Guest Curator
Alexa Goetzinger is a nonprofit professional, independent curator, development consultant, and grant writer based in Oklahoma City. Goetzinger was born and raised in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and has degrees in fine art and art history from the University of Oklahoma. From 2019-2023 Goetzinger co-curated a national annual print exchange, Connect: Collect, and coinciding exhibition, Print as Object, for Oklahoma City University’s Hulsey Gallery.
Goetzinger has worked as a development consultant for Sunny Dayz Mural Festival, Education Director for Artspace at Untitled, and Associate Director of Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, where she administered both the program and national catalog for Art 365 (2021) and Concept (2020). She has worked with the Paseo Arts Association as a mentor for FEAST and as a curator for Print on Paseo. In her spare time, Goetzinger is an advocate for arts education and integration programs in the state of Oklahoma.
Images:
Artwork by Dan Pham. Photo by Viet H. Nguyen. Courtesy of the artist.
Kendall Ross, I Remember Thinking Things Would Change. Photo courtesy of the artist and Kouri + Corrao, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Artwork by Amy Sanders de Melo. Courtesy of the artist.
