ArtsXpose 4

NAME: Margarita Vilshanetskaya

artsXpose

Title of Event

Opening Reception of the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery: Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition

Date & Time of Event

April 11, 2007 7:00-9:00pm

Location of Event

Fine Arts Center

Type of event (Only the events listed below fulfill the artsXpose requirement):

Please Bold and Underline the event attended:

Visiting Artist Lectures Exhibition* (non-course related)

Films** Plays

Arts Related Field Trips Recitals***

Poetry / Literary Readings Arts Related Conferences

Arts Related Symposia, discussion/reading groups or workshops

Attendance of Art Club Meeting****

*Exhibition visits must not be course-related (for example, if we visit an exhibition as a class you may not count this exhibition as an artsXpose event.

**Films must be part of a Univ. dept. sponsored film series—Not films sponsored by the Student Union.

***University Sponsored Recitals only.

****Clubs may only count as one event regardless of the number of clubs or the number of meetings attended during a term

1.) Provide a brief detail-oriented technical description or summary of the event you attended. This section should remain journalistic and should not be reflective of your opinion.

The opening reception of the art gallery consisted of art works done by artists who have received a Masters in Fine Arts. Some of the artists who displayed their work include Colin Goldberg , Jess Benjamin, and Joseph Lombardo. Artist Colin Goldberg displayed his art work called “Hand/Eye”. These pieces were acrylic paintings of hands with an eye in the middle. With his art work, he stressed the importance of computers in the process of making his art. He used a computer to scan the marker drawings which were then put on the canvas with color. Then they were painted over with acrylic. Artist Jess Benjamin displayed a different form of art. She created three-dimensional structures called “Dam Nebraska”. Her pieces were inspired by the jackstones that were the concrete tetrahedrons that supported the Kingsley Dam in Nebraska. She showed several of these jackstones and placed them in a specific order to show each one deteriorating more and more. Artist Joseph Lombardo displayed several paintings of cars in parking lots. He had over sixty paintings of cars displayed at the gallery.

2.) Use the section below to write a well-structured paragraph focusing on your personal critical insight / response to the event. How did you interpret or react to what was presented to you?

Looking at each one of these artist’s works allowed me to see things from the perspectives of the artists. I thought it was very interesting how Joseph Lombardo took an idea as simple as cars parked in a lot and created a work of art out of it. Also, making over sixty paintings of nothing but cars in a parking lot must have taken some great patience and commitment to the project. His paintings made me realize how much the world’s landscape has become nothing more than just pavement. Jess Benjamin’s three dimensional structures looked like nothing I had ever seen before. I could definitely tell that this work reflected something that Benjamin was passionate about and in this case it was the problem of drought in the Great Plains of Nebraska. Colin Goldberg’s paintings were my favorite pieces out of everything that was being displayed. His pieces caught my attention because I felt he had the most original idea out of all the art works in the gallery. All of the colors and patterns were executed very well in his paintings.

3.) What information, ideas, images, etc. most impressed you and why?

Artist Colin Goldberg’s paintings called “Hand/ Eye” impressed me the most because of the way he produced these pieces. My first impression of his art work was that they looked very well painted. I would have never guessed that he used technology to help make these pieces. Another thing that impressed me was Joseph Lombardo’s car lot paintings. When I looked at his paintings, I noticed that many of them were set in the winter, in the summer, and at night. I was very impressed to see how much dedication this artist had to his vision because it looked like it took him a year at least to make these paintings. I felt that the hard work definitely paid off for all of these artists because their final pieces looked very well done.

4.) Overall, how would you rate this event (10 being the most worthwhile)?
(10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 )

5.) Justify your rating in the question above:

Over all, I had a great time walking around the gallery and seeing all of these great pieces of art. It made me look forward to the future when I would get my chance to show my art work in a gallery after I graduate. I rated this event a nine because it was nice to see all of the artist’s interpretations of the world with their displayed art work. However, I wish the gallery would have displayed more pieces by other artists because I really wanted to see more art. I felt like there was more two dimensional art than three dimensional pieces. I would like to have see more three dimensional structures.