The Wabash College Art Department is proud to present the work of senior art majors Dan Gillespie and Mike Russell. The 2008 Senior Art Majors Exhibition will be on display in the Eric Dean Gallery through May 11.
Click here to see photos of Dan Gillespie's work.
Click here to see photos of Mike Russell's work.
This exhibit represents the culmination of four years of thought, creativity, and work by the graduating artists. The last show of the season, the Senior Show, is a tradition in the art department and a rite of passage for each art major.
Dan Gillespie (right) explores the differences between the memories and emotions evoked from viewing a painting in comparison to a photograph. "The difference between the painting and the photo seems to be in the viewership," explained Gillespie. "For example, if a stranger is looking through my photo album, they are not going to infer the same sense of emotion as I do when I look at my album. An artwork transcends this gap; as a snapshot of the qualitative circumstances of my emotional state, the artwork’s true content can be inferred and shared by both the stranger and myself."
In his recent body of work, Gillespie began to combine personal photographs into his paintings. "The process of incorporating photographs into my paintings symbolizes my active process of viewing the photos, remembering the places, people and times extracting the qualitative emotional elements that exist within the photographs, and re-expressing them into the photograph," he said.
Gillespie’s interest in the connection of memory and emotion to art stemmed from receiving several photo albums from his family. It is his hope that viewers will be able to find personal connection to the memories that he creates through his paintings.
Mike Russell (left) focuses upon the use of basic elements of composition and organization in his paintings. Russell composes a complex and detailed work to engage the viewer. "I use simple forms and shapes and a variety of colors to explore the play between 2-D surface and 3-D illusion," said Russell. "The canvas and some of the forms I use are flat yet they include lines, forms and value modulation that tell the eyes of the viewer it is seeing something in three dimensions."
Upon further examination, the viewer is brought back to the two-dimensional quality of the canvas. The juxtaposition between the 2-D surface and 3-D illusion forces the viewers to scan the entire work as well as each shape to decide whether they are viewing a two-dimensional piece or a three-dimensional illusion. "I also strive to balance every aspect of my work so that the viewers’ vision constantly is moving; never settling in one place. The viewer should never be drawn to one area or by overwhelmed by a single object," explained Russell.
In addition to the art exhibit opening, senior art history major, Ivan Acebo-Choy presented his senior thesis, titled "Coded Bodies and the New Queer in Mexican Contemporary Art," on Monday, April 14. Acebo-Choy conducts ground breaking research by analyzing examples of Mexican Queer Art from Modernist and Postmodernist periods. "The cultural and social causes that have both hindered and encouraged the emergence of this type of art in Mexico, and the existence of this type of art is a big enterprise, one that has caught little (or none) attention from Art Historians," said Acebo-Choy.
The Eric Dean Gallery is located on the south end of the Fine Arts Center. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The gallery is free and open to the public.