In motion

“Transition,” a kinetic sculpture exhibit by Corpus Christi artist Jimmy Peña, opens at 6 p.m. Tuesday in The Gallery at Rusteberg Hall on the Brownsville campus.

Peña has been a member of the K-Space Art Studios in Corpus Christi for nearly 18 years.

“I’ve drawn and painted most of my life and, for many years, I’ll occasionally distract myself by tinkering with kinetic sculpture in its simplest form,” Peña wrote in his artist statement.

The name “Transition” describes Peña’s move from drawing and painting to sculpture.

“He will be, kind of, leaving his drawing behind and transition to kinetic sculpture,” said Alejandro Macias, a lecturer in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Visual Arts Department.

“He will have a little bit of both in the show.”

A kinetic sculpture is one that moves and is set in motion by an international mechanism or external help, such as light or air.

“The most important piece is like an abstract shape female figure that is doing this dance or revolving around this larger shape that is a geometric shape,” Peña said.

The goal of the exhibit is to display the transition he is going through as he pursues excellence in art.

“Jimmy has been practicing his craft for a while now and the fact that his work really showcases that, and the fact
that he can draw so well and then move on and do something else shows that he is very versatile and is able to do many things,” Macias said.

Peña said he made the transition because he gets more energized when creating kinetic pieces than with drawing or painting.

“The time has come to devote my artistic efforts to kinetic sculpture,” Peña said. “This show has given me the opportunity to display examples of works from the past, the present and the future.”

Admission is $1 and student semester passes are $3. The exhibit continues through Feb. 19.

For more information, call Macias at 882-7025.