Nicholas
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Lee Begovich Gallery
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2025-2026
college of the arts galleries
COTA Exhibitions in Review
2025
- "Gravity Well: Chris O鈥橪eary鈥檚 Visual Meditations on the Unseen Universe" (OC Art Blog)
- "Curating a Collection of Alumni Art for CSUF Begovich Gallery" (Fullerton Observer)
2022
- (KCET ARTBOUND)
- (Ng瓢峄漣 Vi峄噒)
- (Vi锚t B谩o)
- (H鈥櫭磏 Vi锚t TV)
- "" (Daily Titan)听
2020/2021
- CSUF's Begovich Gallery is listed among art giants such as The Getty, The Hammer, Hauser and Wirth, MOCA, and LACMA in Christopher Knight鈥檚 " " for its presentation of Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020. (L.A. Times)
- ""听听 (L.A. Times)
- "Kim Abeles Turns the Climate Crisis Into Eco-art
" (The New York Times)听 - "听(Art and Cake)
- "" by Bill Lasarow (Visual Art Source)
- "" (Daily Titan)听
- 鈥,鈥 by Evan Senn (OC Art Blog) "
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Soo Kim: (Charlie sings in the quietest voice)
October 4, 2025 鈥 May 16, 2026
Reception: October 4, 2025
"(Charlie sings in the quietest voice)" is a solo exhibition of new photo-based works by acclaimed artist Soo Kim. Known for her physical alteration of photographic prints, Kim returns with a deeply resonant body of work that explores the emotional and material boundaries of photography.
Drawing from still life compositions, 35mm slide projections, and personal ephemera, Kim鈥檚 latest series reflects on themes of memory, loss, and quiet acts of care. Each piece is marked by a sense of restraint and attention to detail, revealing moments that are at once intimate and elusive.
Central to Kim鈥檚 practice is her signature technique of cutting into photographic prints鈥攁 process that disrupts the image鈥檚 surface and reveals its constructed nature. Rather than treating photography as a neutral record, Kim underscores its fragility, subjectivity, and tactile presence. Her work opens space for ambiguity and reflection, engaging with what can be held, remembered, or left unresolved.
"Soo Kim: (Charlie sings in the quietest voice)" is organized by CSUF College of the Arts Galleries and is curated by Jennifer Frias, Gallery Director/Curator and Jennifer Lee, Curatorial Assistant (Art History, 鈥25). Support for the exhibition is provided by the Art Alliance, the Instructional Related Activities Grant, the College of the Arts, and the Department of Visual Arts.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Soo Kim is a photo-based artist whose work has been exhibited at institutions including the Getty Center, the Gwangju Biennale, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and the Seoul Museum of Art. Her work is held in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Broad Foundation, LACMA, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, among others. She received her MFA from CalArts and currently serves as Professor and Program Director of Photography at Otis College of Art and Design, where she also leads the Critic-in-Residence program.
IMAGE: Soo Kim, (She goes to the window. The bell music briefly sounds. The woman from across the way enters), 2025, 46 x 60 inches, Hand-cut archival pigment print, acrylic lacquer.
Carole Caroompas: Mystical Unions
October 4, 2025 鈥 March 28, 2026
Public Reception: October 4, 1:00 PM 鈥 4:00 PM
The landmark exhibition "Carole Caroompas: Mystical Unions" celebrates the life, legacy, and enduring impact of Carole Caroompas (1946鈥2022) 鈥 a trailblazing Los Angeles-based artist and esteemed CSUF alumna.
Caroompas was widely recognized for her innovative approach to interweaving literature, pop culture, and feminist critique into layered visual narratives. Her work, developed over decades, continues to invite critical engagement among artists, scholars, and viewers for its rigorous interrogation of cultural norms and its complex, image-text constructions.
Carole Caroompas received her B.A. in English from CSU Fullerton in 1968, where early experiences in literature laid the groundwork for her interdisciplinary approach to artmaking. This foundation 鈥 further developed through her MFA studies in studio art at the University of Southern California鈥攕haped a practice that merged literary inquiry with bold artistic experimentation. Caroompas鈥 ability to construct complex visual narratives positioned her as a transformative figure in conceptual and feminist art.
"Mystical Unions"听revisits Caroompas鈥 deep ties to CSU Fullerton, where intellectual exploration and artistic risk-taking converged to shape her distinctive voice. Featuring key works from the university鈥檚 permanent collection alongside archival materials drawn from public and private sources, the exhibition highlights the dynamic interplay of text and image that defines her contribution to contemporary art and expands the narrative possibilities of painting in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Carole Caroompas (1946鈥2022) was a visionary American painter whose work critically examined the intersections of pop culture, mythology, and gender archetypes. A graduate of 不良研究所 (B.A., 1968) and the University of Southern California (M.F.A., 1971), Caroompas developed a distinctive visual language that merged narrative structure with dense, symbolic imagery.
Her work has been exhibited widely in major institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Hammer Museum at UCLA, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Regionally, she held significant solo exhibitions at venues such as the Ben Maltz Gallery, Western Project, Mark Moore Gallery, P.P.O.W., and Sue Spaid Fine Art.
Throughout her career, Caroompas received numerous accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants in Painting, a COLA Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, and a California Community Foundation Fellowship.
Presented in partnership with the Art Education Program at CSU Fullerton,听Carole Caroompas: Mystical Unions is curated by Jennifer Frias, Gallery Director/Curator, and Mary Anna Pomonis, Associate Professor of Art Education/Graduate Program Advisor, with research and written contributions by Elise Neal, Columbia College. Support for the exhibition is provided by the Art Alliance, the Instructional Related Activities Grant, the College of the Arts, and the Department of Visual Arts.
Image: CAROLE CAROOMPAS, Hester and Zoro: In Quest of a New World 鈥 The Little Book that Carries Woes, 1985. Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 84 inches. CSUF Department of Visual Arts Permanent Collection. Gift of Cliff Benjamin. [2023.000611]
