Five Wabash seniors will conclude their Wabash careers with the 2016 Senior Art Majors Exhibition.
The exhibit opens Friday, April 22, with a reception from 4:30–6:00 p.m. in the Eric Dean Gallery in the Fine Arts Center. Seniors Robbie Carter, Shariff Harrison, James Kennedy, Aren Peterson, and Tre’ Taylor will attend.
“The senior exhibition is the capstone experience for art majors who have engaged in an intensive final semester of creative research, critical analysis, writing, reflection and of course, making,” Assistant Professor of Art Annie Strader said. “The five students featured in the show have devoted countless hours in the studio to create an innovative and cohesive body of work. The exhibit displays a high level of accomplishment with a wide range of both content and media to explore where these men position themselves as artists in the 21st century.”
Robbie Carter’s abstract paintings implore the use of line, color and space to express chaotic emotions. Using tape to block out certain color areas, he applies spray paint and then repeats the process multiple times in order to create chaotic compositions.
Shariff Harrison’s art challenges viewers to see not only a painting, but also a narrative with multiple layers of contextual clues referring to psychology. After working at a community-based services facility for individuals with disabilities, Harrison learned that some patients are misdiagnosed or abused for being autistic, mute, and even homosexual. Harrison explores the relationship between art and psychology by looking at the dark and gruesome past of the medical field and the mistreatment of patients.
James Kennedy’s oil paintings depict everyday images around us. He illustrates how technology permeates most of our social relationships. By drawing inspiration from Norman Rockwell’s narrative paintings, Kennedy creates his own unique style by combining thick contour lines with unorthodox colors in his depiction of everyday images.
As an artist, Aren Peterson, doesn’t attempt to address a specific theme in his artwork. Instead, he endeavors to capitalize on the inherent interpretations we bring to found objects. Peterson employs poignant imagery and cheap, superficially elaborate home-ornamentation to convey a subtle but absurd narrative uniting adolescent fancies with the “legitimizing” grandeur of splendid décor.
Tre’ Taylor’s interest in architecture is apparent in his plaster sculptures where he hopes to express motion and fluidity in solid materials through the use of repetition of form.
The exhibit continues through May 15. The exhibit is free and open to the public and handicap accessible. The hours for the Eric Dean Gallery are 9-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10-2 p.m. Saturday.