The UA Graduate and Alumni Gallery recently opened a new art gallery showcasing the art of painting with sound in the exhibit “”Fragments in the dark until the end of time.”” The creator of the exhibit is Orlando Montenegro, an art graduate student.

Montenegro, who plans to graduate this spring with a master’s degree in painting and drawing, describes himself as a wanderer without a definite plan or destination, yet is search of purpose.

“”The exhibit is an experiment for me in combining a static medium such as painting with a sound recording that functions through time,”” Montenegro said. “”The show evolved out of the idea of painting through sound.””

The exhibit is located in a small gallery room at the Visual Arts Graduate Research Labratory. The room has a simple setup. The painted walls depict hundreds of black moths scattered throughout the room. The room is completely dark except for one light that the moths are gathered around.

“”I would describe the show as having a foreboding and frightful atmosphere because of the sound piece, which is, at times, savage and relentless,”” Montenegro explains. “”The paintings on the walls are calm, but also convey a sense of destruction and annihilation that is more subdued.””

After walking into the room, Montenegro plays an eight-minute sound clip to accompany the paintings on the wall. The clips are a mixture of sounds that Montenegro collected while walking around in different environments. The mood of the exhibit becomes more grim when the sound clip begins.

The project originally started out as an experiment that stemmed from Montenegro’s desire to step outside of his comfort zone. He started this project at the end of the last spring semester and continued it into the summer. Along the way, he had some delays with his work because he lost some of his sound clips.

“”It forced me to move on and create something new,”” Montenegro said of the setbacks.

“”The show deals with dissolution or a breaking up into parts; disintegration,”” Montenegro said. Montenegro decided to split the exhibit into two sections, the paintings and the sound. The sound clip represents violent destruction and demolition where death, struggle and conflict are intertwined.

This is contrasted by the paintings that represent a death that seems more natural because there is submission and resignation to a destination, Montenegro commented on the meaning behind his work.

The Graduate and Alumni Gallery is at the Visual Arts Graduate Research Lab on the northwest corner of Fremont Avenue and Mabel Street. Gallery hours for “”Fragments in the dark until the end of time”” are by appointment with the artist. Admission is free.

Visual Arts Graduate Research Laboratory

Free admission by appointment only