The University of Delaware gallery at the Crane Arts Building (UD@Crane) is in the midst of a show in which “Everybody Wins,” specifically because that is the name of the exhibit. Work on display ranges in mediums and messages, but cumulatively stands as the MFA thesis show for nine University of Delaware students.

Marian Barber, “Lore.”

The culturally-charged juxtapositions in Marian Barber’s work are hard-hitting and surreal. Her folkloric pieces are diligently illustrated and collaged scenes that tousle and incite as much as they defy seriousness. A number of these depict wildlife – oftentimes deer – in a variety of manners not so becoming of such fauna: charging, baring teeth and drooling blood. Seemingly a clip from a poorly-conceived horror flick, these images make light of the animals’ typical herbivorous, panicky nature. In other works, Barber draws on content from mythology (satyrs and tree beasts), American culture (hunters in orange vests and beer cans), and historical elements (medieval garb in places, civil war uniforms in others) to construct a world that is as disturbing as it is ridiculous.

Sandi Petrie, “You Tool.”

Sandy Petrie crochets objects which, in many ways, have very little in common with fabric: television sets, stale, moldy bread, cigarettes and a spilled jug of milk (appropriately titled “No Use Crying”). A promotional poster for the movie “Twister” playfully asserts through its title that it is “The Best Movie of All Time.” Despite the perceived corniness of this thriller, the recent outbreak of severe weather in the Midwest also calls to mind a pearl of truth. One of Petrie’s best, entitled “You Tool,” consists merely of a hammer, its long, limp, unusable handle wrapped up and dangling down the wall like some cartoon gag.

Shane Jezowski, “Somewhere, just not here.”

In a turn toward form and away from overt social intentions, Shane Jezowski constructs a few monochromatic works to counter the colors in much of the show. In “Revealed,” Jezowski creates a bunker-like window of Venetian-blind slats, some spots bent up as if permanently deformed by a continuously peeping neighbor. On a grove of tall, metal poles stands a complex of apartment building forms constructed from corrugated cardboard and painted white. Titled “Somewhere, just not here,” this piece seems to draw on some degree of urban angst, yet still manages to celebrate the beauty of rigid, minimal forms that seem more at home in a former Soviet state than Philadelphia.

Carrie Mae Smith, “Birthing Chair.”

Carrie Mae Smith includes four pieces of furniture which are more tongue-in-cheek than functional. The seats are all called “Birthing Chairs” and each include some form of opening in the seat which would presumably allow for an easy passage during labor. Surely not medically approved, they dot the show and tie together loose ends with their quirky take on the way each one of us entered this world.

UD@Crane will be showing these as well as other works by Trey Andrade, Cory Bluemling, Michael Marks, Sean Quinn, Steven Earl Weber and Anthony Vega in “Everybody Wins” through June 13.

UD@Crane is located in the Crane Arts Building, 1400 North American St., Philadelphia; [email protected]; cranearts.com.