A new type of exhibit will be displayed at the Davis Art Center in January. The center will host Saturate Yolo, a display of images taken using an iPhone and focusing solely on Yolo County.
Local Davis resident and artist Dave Webb created the exhibit, which will feature over 60 printed images and a five-frame electronic installation that will rotate dozens more images.
The exhibit will coincide with the City of Davis’ “Phone Art Month.” During the month of January, people will be free to post their own phone images on a Facebook page synced with Saturate Yolo.
Webb said that research has shown 85 percent of American adults own a cell phone and 76 percent of those users take pictures with those devices. He also said new technology allows people to share those images instantaneously, which most people do via some social media platform. They also use their phones to edit and manipulate the images.
“Declaring January ‘Phone Art Month’ is an invitation for people to submit their stuff on Facebook for others to look at,” Webb said. “There’s something about the arts that’s really critical and I think that phone art allows people to get involved.”
Webb started noticing the artistic quality of these images when he used his iPhone and started sharing his images on Facebook in 2008. He uses a range of iPhone applications to saturate the images.
“It seems like a really cool exhibit; I’ve never heard about anything like this before,” said Kevin McCormick, a third-year English major. “I didn’t realize you could use camera phones to create artwork on this scale. It’ll be interesting to see what kinds of images people post on Facebook.”
This exhibit reflects the ever-changing nature of the art scene in Downtown Davis, according to Mayor Joe Krovoza. He stated that in the last 18 months, the Davis art scene has simply exploded and is taking Davis creativity to a new level. All the new exhibits will contribute to the monthly 2nd Friday ArtAbout.
The exhibit will be shown from Jan. 5 to Feb. 2 at the Tsao Gallery in the Davis Art Center on F Street. There will be a reception on Jan. 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. and the Facebook page will go live on Jan. 5.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the real multimedia and multidimensional aspects of our art [in] downtown,” Krovoza said. “We have always been a city that has thrived on sculpture because of the John Natsoulas Gallery. But then with the Transmedia Art Walk we really jumped into the digital age and this is another step in that direction.”
PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
