Relative Truths

On View September 26, 2025–January 4, 2026

Read the interview with guest curator, Peter Hay here.

A new exhibition, Relative Truths at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) on the University of Utah Campus features works by local artists and educators. 

Relative Truths is the latest in a series of exhibitions at the UMFA featuring the work of faculty in the University of Utah Department of Art and Art History. The last faculty exhibition, Space Maker, took place in 2021, and this iteration promises to be equally impressive and timely. Relative Truths will feature over 30 new works by contemporary artists covering a vast variety of mediums, styles, and subjects. Peter Hay, associate director of PROArtes México, was selected in 2024 to curate this special exhibition and has been working with the UMFA and University faculty to select works and develop themes that bring the exhibition together in a larger context.  

The exhibition showcases the skill, wit, and inventiveness of the faculty artists. “The more I learned about the artwork in Relative Truths, the more I discovered how dedicated these artists are to their students, their studio practice, and our art community.” Says Peter Hay, guest curator of Relative Truths at the UMFA. “Thanks to the breadth of interests and techniques, there is something for everyone in this show. With so much going on in the world, it has been truly heartening to see the artwork being made and creative research taking place in the University of Utah Department of Art & Art History and be able to take part in sharing this with the UMFA’s visitors.” He continued. 

Presenting a wide range of media, Relative Truths addresses themes of isolation, division, contested histories, cultural anxiety, dismantling of human rights, and the persistent creativity of the human mind. Some artists draw upon and embrace the uncertainty of a shared mass-media, post-pandemic, AI-informed reality, while others choose to reject it. Through wit, nostalgia, craft, and material play, these artists challenge convention and defy categorization to reveal new perspectives on the technological, environmental, and social conditions we are all navigating in our world today. 

When asked what he hoped visitors would take away from the exhibition, Hay said “I hope visitors leave with questions, new knowledge of craft or art-making processes, and their perception of the world in relation to our community expanded. Like many past generations, we’re living at a time of straddling old technology and major advancements.” Hay continued. “I hope visitors will consider this while in the gallery and after they leave. What is the artist’s role in navigating new technology?”

Three artists featured in Relative Truths will discuss the exhibition in a panel facilitated by Peter Hay, November 6, 2025, at 6 pm. The public is invited to a free celebration on Friday, September 26, at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts honoring the opening of Relative Truths and salt 17: Adama Delphine Fawundu, the UMFA’s concurrent exhibition and latest iteration of the popular salt series.