The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host an exhibition featuring artist Joshua Brinlee’s photographic self-portraits, which explore societal expectations of masculinity. 

The exhibition, “Masculine Projections,” will be on display in the Small Gallery, located on level one in the Windgate Center of Art + Design from March 29 to April 27. Brinlee, assistant professor of art at the University of Mississippi, will discuss his work at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the Windgate Center Room 101.

The exhibit features photographic self-portraits created with digital imaging, which mimic the traditional portraiture and painting tradition. Stereotypical archetypes of men appropriated from Tumblr are projected onto the artist, which Brinlee photographed.

“Societal expectations dictate that men should be stoic and dominant projections of virility, especially in the South,” UA Little Rock Gallery Director Brad Cushman said. “If you fail to meet these expectations of masculinity, you are characterized as weak, unmanly, and effeminate. Brinlee explores the absurdity of these expectations in his current series, ‘Masculine Projections.’”

Brinlee received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from the Memphis College of Art and Design. He also participated in the New York Studio Residency Program, which is a project that stems from the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.

Brinlee will be on campus over spring break to jury the Student Competitive art show. This exhibition will feature work created by students taking art classes at UA Little Rock. The exhibition will run March 26 to April 15 on level two in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art + Design.

The UA Little Rock Art Gallery, which is free and open to the public, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.

For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Bushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103.

In the upper right photo is Joshua Brinlee’s 2017 digital print, “Self-Portrait as Provider.”