The Art Faculty Biennial debuted at the Atkinson Gallery on Friday the 27th, featuring pieces created by a large part of the art department at City College.
Artworks span in nature from trace drawings to watercolors to works conceived from poster scraps, each piece with its own distinct style and eccentricity. As a whole, the exhibit displayed intriguing and progressive work that was both aesthetically pleasing and thought provoking.
The show attracted both faculty and students alike. Mitch Spring, gallery intern, estimated that there was close to a hundred attendees at the event.
The best part about the gallery is that not one piece of art comes remotely close to resembling another; they range in emotion and voice so greatly that the viewers are never bored or put off.
Dane Goodman, director of the Atkinson Gallery, is currently displaying work inspired by his colleague, Keith Puccinelli. His sculpture features a snowman and a clown angled toward each other, made with Model Magic, which is a form of clay that air dries and does not require the use of an oven. The piece features impressive details, considering that this clay hardens in 24 hours. Usually I wouldn’t label myself as a clown appreciator, but this case made for an exception.
Another series that caught my attention was Department Chair Nina Warner’s set of four oil paintings focusing on trees, specifically the bark and leaves that cover them. These pieces are named Madrone I, II, III and IV. Warner used a style of painting called “Plein Air,” a French term for painting outdoors, or literally translated, “in the open air.”
The point of this form of painting is to observe the way that sunlight and different times of day change our view of the world around us. The first two pieces were painted together while the second two were done with a different palette of color. Each of them was created on different days.
“What I was after was to get the composition of the color and the lifelike quality of the trees,” said Warner. “They’re very figurative, the Madrone limbs and bark.”
While most work indoors, Warner prefers to be outside because the style is so much more direct.
Even if it was not Warner’s intention, the Madrones seem to speak to the natural process of the breakdown of the trees. The first Madrone focuses on a group of lush, blooming trees whereas the fourth Madrone includes only two trees with vast space and barren surroundings. After viewing these pieces, I will forever be a fan of “Plein Air.”
Two particularly interesting pieces entitled “Cultural Excavations – Istanbul #6” and “Istanbul #4” also drew my attention immediately. They are a series of poster scraps, colors and quotes, arranged on foam board. The artist of this piece is Dr. Thomas Larson, an art history teacher at City College since 1989.
Some of the quotes Dr. Larson has included on the boards are “biletix,” which is the name of the Turkish version of Ticketmaster and the largest seller of event tickets in Turkey, and “cihangir,” which means “conqueror” in Turkish. I am both curious and perplexed as to how these terms correlate. Regardless, these pieces left me wondering and contemplating the Turkish language.
Overall, the Art Faculty Biennial will be a wonderful, comprehensive experience no matter what your interests are. The exhibit will be up until September 24th, and it is not something to miss. The instructor’s work will no doubt inspire Art students at City College.
