Tang Gallery: Alumni Invitational

For our last Gallery Guide trip we took a trip to the Tang Gallery on Skidmore College's campus. The show that I enjoyed the most was on the upper level of the building and it included work from four alumni of varying years of graduation. Courtney Mattison is a 2008 graduate that had ceramic pieces that really caught my attention. Ceramics is one of my favorite mediums to work in and I was really impressed when I saw her "Hope Spots" collection. 

I think that Courtney did an amazing job at capturing the mood and look of an underwater scene. She used organic forms to recreate objects that might be found in nature, specifically in a nautical setting. Her work is inspired by her love of marine biology. She shows her knowledge of the sea through her complex forms of coral and its characteristics. She not only shows snip-its of healthy and flourishing ecosystems in her work, but ones that are less than lively. I think that this contrast makes an important statement about the environment as well as the beauty of each piece, and how the definition of beauty can change. Her goal through these pieces is to inform and hopefully educate people about how humans have a greater effect on all parts of the world than we may be aware of. 

The piece above was created by James Esber and it is titled "Bouquet", it is meant to represent a familiar picture that says something about American culture. He is testing the ways in which the brain is able to perceive things and how the eyes can sometimes be deceived. In his work he makes a point to emphasize how plastic-like the material that he is working with really is. I wasn't quite able to pick up on what this image originally was but I really enjoyed the large size and great amount of texture that it has. 

"The Last Cornerstone" was created by Julian LaVerdiere. It is a very large sculpture that hung is hung from a large hook in the middle of the room. LaVerdiere's goal is to mix commercial and art worlds together. This piece in particular is meant to represent one of the only remaining eagle sculptures in New York's Pennsylvania Station. I found it really interesting that he was able to mix history and art together in his pieces. 

Overall, I had an amazing experience going to different galleries each week. It was always the perfect way to relax and become inspired by other artists before having to go back to busy, school work. It was nice to slow down once a week and appreciate the beauty at each gallery and to find new places to visit. Going to Starbucks and talking was a great way to end the experience and the semester, and it was so interesting to see what everyone is going to do after this year. Thank you so much for an amazing class!

Albany Center Gallery

This week we went to visit the Albany Center Gallery, they are a non-profit organization that shows local artists in the Mohawk Hudson region. Their goal is to promote contemporary visual art while helping local artists to make a name for themselves by engaging with the public in their area. This gallery takes credit for helping many artists to gain both national and international recognition.

I really like this black and white wedding photo by Tracey Buyce to be interesting because it seems to sum up so much about this father daughter relationship. It is titled "A Father's Love" which I think fits it perfectly.

These two pieces by Stephen Honicki were placed side by side, they are a pair that go together titled "Just Being Honest" and after reading the email the viewer can better understand the story of the man in the mirror. I found the picture very intriguing because you have to look very closely to see the frames within the picture. In each frame is a close up of a different persons face, and only the reflection of the man that I assume wrote the email that is next to the picture. This was my favorite piece out of the show because of how personal and revealing it gets with the email, combined with an intimate moment of this man looking at himself in the mirror. 

This piece is by Steven Fink and I think that it is either titled "iphone SX70#1253s" or that is the device that was used to take the picture. Either way I think that the title makes the picture more interesting to me. Especially because anyone can take a picture with an iphone but not everyone would be able to turn it into art. 

These two images are of the picture by Michael Farrell titled "Still I Look to Find A Reason to Believe". I took a close up of the bottom of the frame because I thought it was interesting that the title was messily written in pencil at the bottom of the picture. I like that it was placed there even though in a way it seems like somewhat of an afterthought. 

This series by Newbold Bohemia won first place for the Juror's Choice Award. This particular piece from the series was titled "Tea and Comfort". I found the series much more interesting once I learned that the person in each of these pictures is a man. We are never shown their face so we would have no reason to think that it isn't a woman but I like that there is that secret within each piece. 

This is a shot of the gallery. I think that it is in a great space because of the sunlight that it lets in along with its centrality in the town. I would think that because of its location it gets a good amount of publicity and visitors. 

SUNY Albany Gallery

This week we took a trip to the gallery on the SUNY Albany campus. The gallery was surprisingly large and diverse in the artwork that it contained. The dates of the artwork had a wide range which I thought was interesting because we were able to compare the decades one right next to the other in some cases.

This first image is by Robert Creeley and it is titled "The Boy". I really enjoyed it because underneath the title the viewer gets a description of why it is titled "The Boy", once we get this little back story about the piece it makes it much more personal and interesting. It is a picture of the artist as a young boy but because of his disposition even as an adult he is thought of as a boy to his friends. Most of his friends are older which also makes them feel that he is childish. Normally in artwork we do not see as much text, whether it be on the piece or in the description. In this one we are shown both and I really appreciated how much information the artist gives because normally it is all up to the viewer to interpret the meaning but in some cases it is nice to know exactly what it is about. 

This piece is a lithograph by John L. Doyle titled "Cowboys/Sunshine Bandit". The picture itself is very large, yet it contains a great amount of detail. I think that the title really adds to the feel of the piece. The stars and light colors made feel like this cowboy was less dangerous and then after reading that this is a "sunshine bandit" I found it very humorous and fitting. The proportions of the gun compared to the body are also very dramatic but I think that since it is not as serious of a piece it works well. 

Above is a piece by Andy Warhol titled "Sitting Bull" and it is a screen print, which Andy is well known for doing. I was very excited to see that the gallery had work that was donated by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts included in the galleries collection. 

I thought that the above piece by Robert Rauschenberg was interesting too. The title is "Support" and going along with it is a poem called "Ode to RR" which I think changes the way this can be perceived. Depending on how you view this piece, it will bring out a different question or idea. From a far it seems  like delicately drawn lines but as it comes in to closer view we are able to read between the lines in a way and see that on each one there is a word or a few words. Alone they would just be ordinary words that we might use or hear used throughout the day, but when they are put together it creates a story of the type of person that might need to do all of the things on each line. I also found that the differences in color of some of the lines was necessary and made me wonder why each was the color that it was, if there even was any reasoning. 

"Flag Face" by Vito Acconci is unique because it is set up as three different framed images but the viewer realizes that even though they are not all physically connected, one would not make sense without the other two. The idea of portraying a face in such a simple way can be difficult to make look sophisticated but the movement and the way it is broken up complicates it in a great way. I also really enjoyed the commentary about this piece because it talks about the many great ways that this artist is described, so much so that it is hard to find a few words that could sum him up. The writer also says how the composition for this piece is so simple that they wish they had thought of it, yet the fact that it hasn't been done makes it special. 

Alex Katz is the artist that make "Five Women". The short bit of writing that is under the title questions why women act a certain way in society and I believe that this picture does a good job of showing the emotions of some women as they interact with others. 

This piece was created by the artist Lamar Peterson with acrylic paint on paper. I thought that this was a great contemporary piece that says a lot about our culture. It seems ridiculous and over the top but so many things around us have become that way, which makes me feel that this piece fits in perfectly with our time period. 

This piece is also by Lamar Peterson, it is titled "Boat People" and was also made with acrylic paint on found poster. Although the style is different it is fairly easy to tell that the artist is the same in all of the pieces on the top level. Something about the sense of imagination and cartoon like creatures clues us in that they are Lamar's. 

I thought that this piece was very emotional and powerful because although it was made with bright, happy colors, it is obviously showing a terrible event. It did not have a title but based on the image I think that it can be assumed that the feeling is not positive, nor was the idea that the artist had in their mind. 

This piece is titled "Blind Girl" which I found to be a great title. It is an interesting way to think about a girl with butterflies over her eyes. We would probably assume that she is able to quickly and easily remove them but I think that the point of her being blind in this way shows that she probably only chooses to see the good things and is blind to the rest. 

This piece is titled "The Circumscribers" which is very clever because the characters are literally in a circle of the things that are a part of their lives. 

This piece was not titled but it is also by Lamar Peterson, as are the others. 

This piece is called "Basquiat".

I really enjoyed this last piece because it took a while to take in every part of it because their was so much going on. It is titled "Yellow Brick Road".

Ju Money: Sang Wook Lee

The Art Center of Troy was exhibiting the work of Sang Wook Lee in its gallery down town. The work that she exhibited was made specially for this gallery and it is easy to see why as you walk into the space. 

 

The Art Center also featured student work. It was hard to tell what age groups made each print because of the varying levels of complexity in each one. It seemed that the general message in each piece was about the same though. From the top picture it looks like the student wanted to show a need for unity among the people of Earth. 

These small pouches are called 'bokjumoney' which is a Korean costume associated with 'hanbok'. The pouches used to be carried around by children and were filled with red beans but now they are typically filled with money. They are meant to represent good will in the new year. Alone, these Ramen Noodles are insignificant, but when put together their meaning becomes much greater. 

This instillation is of Ramen Noodles. The purpose of this piece is to magnify the color, texture, and line of an object that is in our everyday lives and we are accustom to seeing. Lee puts this everyday object into a new light by showing many of them and from a new angle. 

The Ju Money piece was definitely my favorite at the exhibit. Even though there weren't a lot of pieces there I enjoyed how large and detailed each one was. It seemed that it took a lot to make this and like the Ramen Noodle piece, alone these pouches don't mean very much but once they are put together their meaning changes. I liked the way that it was hung from thin strings attached to the ceiling and that they all met at the top. I don't think it would have been as successful if they didn't all meet at one place on the ceiling. This point makes each individual piece really feel like one whole sculpture.

These two sculptures also interested me because of their location in the gallery. I found it to be very intriguing that they were placed on these ledges of various heights and that they only become noticeable as one walks up the steps to the next level of the gallery. The lighting from above was successful too and added to their uniqueness because the green walls were turned to different shades depending on where the light hit them. 

I found these two pieces to be particularly interesting because of how both three dimensional, common objects, and painting on the wall were used. Although the objects in this series had little to do with one another, they were brought together by their positioning in the middle of the colorful plaid pattern, and their stark white color. I think another thing that brought most of the objects together was that they were delicate items that seem almost childish and desired but not always had by many people. 

This is a view of the parking lot from the gallery. I thought that it was really nice that the river is visible from the gallery. It is hard to see from this picture but the window actually lets in a lot of light and opens up the space in a great, and much needed way. 

Rosetti Hall Artwork

Rosetti Hall is one of the newest additions to the growing Siena campus. It is easy to tell that it was not build at the same time as some of the others because of its modern look, including solar panels on the outside and more student geared classrooms within. It does keep with the style of the other buildings in that it is brick and has a similar shape however. The main purpose of this new construction is to accommodate for the growing sociology and education programs that Siena offers. Compared to some of the other buildings on campus, Rosetti is filled with artwork. I think that it seems fitting that out of all of the buildings on campus this one is heavy on the artistic end because of the architecture and function of the building. 

This series of ink on paper art was made by Beth Neville and as a whole they are titled 'Studies for Explosions'. For me they were the collection that I enjoyed most out of all of the others in Rosetti. I think that it is great that such a large series was put into the building and that the subject matter that she looked into is unusual and can be looked at in a variety of ways. 

 Many of the language classes are taught in Rosetti. I feel that some of the artwork represents different cultures styles in a way because of the expansive amounts of colors and different styles like that of what you might see when traveling out of the county. While traveling around the three floors of the building I found that there was an incredible amount of variations between the style of each artist.



I was very surprised to notice that there was a sculpture on the second floor. While I thought that the placing of this sculpture didn't really make sense I think that it is great that a sculpture has been included in the collection because normally in a school setting, or place that is not really focused on art, there might just be paintings or artwork that can be hung on the wall. This sculpture has an unknown title but the material that it is made from is metal.

This piece was particularly interesting to me because it is located right outside of a room that I had Spanish class in last semester and something about the subject matter and style reminded me of a South American country. It is a serigraph made by Edward Sokol and the title is 'Fishing Pier'. I really liked the way that some things are outlined in black giving it a cartoon-like look. 

This acrylic and collage piece by Meg Atkinson seemed to me to be something that might be more typically found in a building that doesn't necessarily have artwork but is beginning a collection. The title of this piece is 'Easter Sunday' and it feels like it could have been chosen more for decoration than actual style and composition. 

This piece is a lithograph made by Risaburo Kimura, a japanese artist that was born in the 1920's. The title is 'City 98' and to me having the title is very important to the way we are to perceive this piece. Without it the viewer knows that there is a lot of commotion going on but it is not as easy to tell what kind of an atmosphere the artist wants us to feel like we are in. I think that the contrast in the colors pink and green is very important to the excitement of this piece as well. 

This piece by Sam Gilliam was one of my other favorites in Rosetti. I really loved the size of this piece. It takes up almost the entire back wall on the first floor and because it is in a hall way the viewer is forced to walk from one side to the other to really be able to see the whole thing. I like that the painting forces us to move around and be interactive. The title is 'Scatter' and the medium used to make it was acrylic paint. I also think that it is interesting that the wall it is placed on is a red/orange color. In a typical gallery the walls would probably be white but since it is set in the school, there are a few different colored walls, depending on the floor. 

This last piece was also very interesting and took a few close looks to really take in. It was made by the Iranian painter, Kayvan Asgari, with acrylic paint on canvas. The title is 'Moment of Death (Siavash Dead)' which was interesting to me because when I looked at it I wasn't really reminded of death at all. The bright colors and cartoonish style made this piece seem uplifting. I enjoyed it more after I read the title because it seems like something that not a lot of students passing by will look at, so they will probably think of it in a very different way, just as I did before reading the title.