Author: Dean DeChiaro
I’m by no means an expert on the visual arts. The last piece of art I created was a finger painting in preschool. So, when I walked into the student art show on display in the Weingart Gallery yesterday, I had no idea how I was going to review the work of students who have made art their life’s pursuit. Who was I to critique their work? But as I wandered through the two rooms and explored the tangible depths of the pieces, I realized that if art was only critiqued and appreciated by those who are truly qualified to do so, the art world would be very, very tiny. But art, just like writing (my own preferred medium), is not something that is produced by the exclusive to be shared with the exclusive, but instead to be opened up to the masses.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the gallery was the assortment of the different types of work. Although some were pieces produced in printmaking and lithography classes, there was also a body of work on display that ranged from simple charcoal drawings to incredibly deep canvas paintings that incorporated the use of words as visuals. There was some black and white photography and even a large piece of sheet music on which notes were beautifully displayed.
The highlight of the show was a series of pieces whose production baffled me. That is, until I looked more closely. A number of students had taken about 50 photographs, that were of more or less the same area, and then assembled together to produce one large, overarching collage. Gina Lee (first-year) and Drew Hamilton (first-year) both produced images of tree trunks, though the latter was more interesting to me because the trunk was dead. Hamilton’s work seemed to explore themes of death and environmental awareness.
Kaitlin Kelly’s (first-year) depiction of Los Angeles graffiti with about 20 different photos took steps to further legitimize urban tagging as an art form. By far the most beautiful of these images, however, was Lydia Sosa’s (first-year) series of photos, which came together to depict the Eagle Rock farmers’ market at sunset.
Aside from the photographic collages, I enjoyed several of the show’s more politically charged pieces. One of which, a work by Aaron Landman (sophomore), depicted two boxers, one incredibly large and wearing American flag shorts and the other, much smaller, wearing shorts emblazoned with the Iraqi flag. This political commentary was one of many pieces that took a rather pessimistic outlook on today’s world. Margaret Gallagher’s (junior) drawing of disfigured creatures in the forefront of a depressingly dystopian urban jungle was so similar to some of Ralph Steadman’s work that it could have jumped off the pages of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and no one would have noticed. However, the barren landscape depicted in the piece no doubt carried warnings against hurting the environment. Finally, Sara Hooker (junior) went Jane Goodall meets Pablo Picasso in her drawing entitled Congo Killings, which depicted the barrel of a gun extended from a human’s finger at point-blank range from a gorilla’s head.
My favorite two pieces in the show were both by Gisele Goldwater-Feldman (junior), who produced two paintings on canvas that used words as much as images to get across her message. The more powerful of the two paintings dealt with idolatry, and used various images that I assume reflected her thoughts about the ups and downs of idolizing authorities, such as professors and parents. The other dealt with female anatomy and identity, and although it was far deeper than anything I was able to unravel, it did remind me of another post-feminist piece in the show: a drawing by Kate McCallum (sophomore). McCallum’s drawing was divided into three parts by passages from the Black Eyed Peas’ song “My Humps.” The three parts were drawings of the breasts, the behind, and the groin of three different women in bikinis.
The most exciting thing about the show was the diversity of mediums and the themes explored through these mediums. From post-nuclear holocaust dystopia to American imperialism, to female identity, there was no singular thing connecting any of these pieces. You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy what these students have created, so when you get a chance you should swing by the Weingart Gallery and check out the show.
Weingart will host the student art show until March 9th. The gallery is open M – F from 9 to 2.
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