BRENTON NEWCOMB
Special to The Leader
On Friday, March 22, the Department of Visual Arts and New Media Faculty held their artist reception.
This exhibition features an eclectic mix of drawings, paintings, digital animations, sculpture and performance art created by current Visual Arts and New Media faculty members.
Many of these works asked questions, offered introspection and, all in all, were very interactive pieces.
Attendees at the Marion Art Gallery were a mixed group of students, faculty, people from the community and even kids who could get something out of the show and had fun with the interactive works.
Some of the attendees were lively while some came in quietly with headphones on, just soaking up the work.
Upon entering the gallery, it was hard to find out where to start, but most guests walked clockwise around the wall and then engaged the interactive works in the center of the room.
One of the first works on the wall using this navigating method was a group of eerie paintings of a duck that also features props.
A little farther down the line were two giant lifesize charcoal drawings featuring a nude woman tattered by smokey decay, done by Tricia Butski, and a group of art students seemed to be revelling in it.
One of them was student Jossy Wang, who said, “I like the detail in the foot and the shadows.”
Further around the room, guests met with a detailed painting of a town getting construction work done, as well as some more abstract work done on hemp paper.
Next, after these works, there were two contrasting works done with blue ink created by Patrick Foran. One of them contained American flags and appeared to represent something similar to the oval office, while the next one was a homeless shelter.
Anthony Holmok explained that the reason these drawings were so impressive is that they were done in ink.
“This is a very difficult piece I can imagine because, as you put ink on once, that’s the value you’re stuck with, so you’ve gotta layer it,” Holmok said.
This work almost wrapped up the drawings and paintings as the next showcase was an animation by Jill Johnston that had a sort of “Alice in Wonderland” feel to it and displayed a bunny in a forested background with psychedelic-looking mushrooms.
The interactive works included a wooden sculpture entitled “Operator Defined art making jig #2”. This work was engaging, especially for the younger kids attending because it could be cranked along as these three figures move back and forth, each holding signs that say things like “free me” and “no face.”
The show was eye-opening and featured a sprawling array of engaging creative works that inspired artists and made attendees question the art.
The Marion Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
For more information on the works and the artists, please visit https://www.fredonia.edu/about/art-gallery/gallery-calendar.