Exhibition Review: Tomorrow's Man

Gallery Review: Sheppard Contemporary

            One of the galleries that I chose to walk through for review is the Sheppard Contemporary gallery here on campus at the University of Nevada, Reno. The gallery was filled with pieces that were curated by guest artist Jack Pierson. The exhibition is titled “Tomorrow’s Man”. The gallery included all sorts of media, including photography, oil painting, sculpture, charcoal drawings, and more. The selection of art pieces for this gallery all seemed to look more like modern art pieces rather than traditional. Also, the gallery requires viewers to be 18 years of age in order to enter, as there are pieces that contain nudity.

            Some of the pieces that immediately grabbed my attention were oil paintings featured on the first wall when you enter the gallery. These paintings were completed by Emerald Whipple. The paintings feature landscapes, painted using a stippling technique. The effect achieved by using this technique gives an almost pixelated perspective on the landscapes. The color palettes were all pretty neutral or earth toned. This style drew my attention, since pixilation is more of a digital aspect of art, which just happens to be the type of art that I create as a digital media minor!

            Another collection that I found appealing featured 12 different photographs with large, white words imposed upon them. I cannot recall the artist who created this collection. One of the posters, for example, has a picture of a smoke cloud after a giant bomb was dropped with the word “ENTERTAINMENT” written across it. I took this as the artist trying to say that in our media, we tend to feature a lot of destruction and warfare purely for the form of entertainment; however, the majority of people have never dealt with those things in their life. In comparison, there was another photo of a much smaller bomb with the words “WORLD NEWS” written across it. I interpreted this as the artist making a statement about how events such as warfare and bombings that occur everyday are of smaller importance in real life than they are in entertainment media like movies.

            Overall, I think this gallery offers an interesting mix of artwork that should resonate with everyone. I believe that having the various types of media in the gallery is something that is unique and I haven’t really seen in such a small space. If I had to choose, I would say that my favorite pieces were the paintings by Emerald Whipple. His pieces show great attention to detail and were extremely pleasing to look at.

Exhibition Review: The Erosion of Memory

Gallery Review: Student Gallery South

            Currently, the Student Gallery South in the Jot Travis Building at the University of Nevada, Reno is holding an exhibition titled “The Erosion of Memory.” The exhibition features the works of artist Bahareh Farahani who is also a masters student here at the university in the Fine Arts program. Bahareh states that her exhibition is a reflection of her journey from her home country of Iran to the United States. This journey came with a lot of lifestyle changes, as Bahareh went from being home, to being in a foreign place; from the Eastern way of living to Western culture. She reflects the idea that she had to create a new identity moving to the United States. In addition, she notes that the pieces display her “…longing from home, notions of personal identity and self-exploration through remembering, retelling, and reimagining.”

            Bahareh’s pieces range from paintings to shadow boxes that are illuminated in a dark space. Her pieces are presented in selections, the second one being my favorite. The series of paintings that Bahareh includes in this second series consists of a mosaic-looking backdrop that reflects those of Persian culture, with paints placed on top to make them semi-transparent. The paint looks almost like a thick buildup of wax on top of a Persian-looking tile. I found the tile patterns to be very intricate and eye-catching. I interpreted the waxy covering as a way to show how Bahareh might be covering up a bit of her cultural identity in order to incorporate herself more into Western culture, even though some of her cultural descent is able to shine through.

            Another one of her pieces was a white shadow box that was illuminated. A piece of transcript paper tops the front of the shadowbox, and within the box there is a drawing. The drawing is simple, and consists of paisley-like shapes that are filled to be black. This piece did not speak to me as much as the former piece I discussed; however, I did find it to be my focus in the dark room that it was placed in. It was interesting to see how the light in the shadow box almost gives the piece multiple dimensions in which you can see a background, horizon, foreground, etc.

            Overall, I think the gallery could have used bigger pieces, since the space was quite large for how small most of the works are. Also, it would have been nice to see a statement on each piece rather than a general overview of the entire gallery space. I know that personally, I have a particular set of feelings towards each individual piece of art I create and it would be nice to share that with an audience. I think that the most beautiful part of this exhibition happens to be the Eastern tile patterns used throughout the paintings. They are so intricate and beautiful that they immediately captured my attention, and I wish it was more prevalent in the gallery as a whole.

Lecture Review: Jaime Lynn Shafer

Black Rock Press: Jaime Lynn Shafer

            Attending the guest lecture held by the Black Rock Press was a great way to learn about other forms of art. I have never created book art, as I am a digital media minor; however, Jaime Lynn Shafer sparked an interest for me in this form of art. Listening to Ms. Shafer’s explanation of her work, I could tell how passionate she is about her work and the meaning behind them. Many of her pieces focus around social issues, while others focus on highlighting local geography. Her projects are very time consuming, which shows her dedication to creating lovely pieces of art.

            One of the most prolific pieces of Ms. Shafer’s is titled 17927. The title stands for the revoked zip code of Centralia, Pennsylvania. The town was once a coal mining hometown, with around 1,000 residents. However, the town is now deserted due to a fire that started in 1962 in Centralia’s town dump. The dump resided over an old coal pit, which caught fire and has been burning every since. The fire did not gain national attention until the 1980’s when a little boy fell into a sinkhole caused by the fire. In order to shed light on this occurrence, Ms. Shafer created a book that contains a map of Centralia prior to the fire and a map of Centralia now. The town is basically deserted in the present day. The book also includes a three dimensional sinkhole with the image of fire at the bottom, surrounded by statements regarding the event. The attention to detail in this piece is stunning, as the visual representation of this event explains everything that happened in Centralia.

            Another one of Jaime Lynn Shafer’s pieces is titled Code Red. The title of this piece reflects the code that is spoken out in public schools in a crisis situation. Recently, there have been many public school shootings occurring, which is something that Ms. Shafer takes to heart. Her wife works in the Washoe County School District and ran into one of these crises recently. The school that Ms. Shafer’s wife worked at in Sparks, Nevada had a gun threat recently in which Ms. Shafer could not contact her wife. She waited with much anticipation to hear back from the one she loves most, which left her sickened by how often situations like this occur. Thankfully, the situation here in Nevada never resulted in anything bad happening, but the anxiety factor still resonates with Ms. Shafer. Therefore, she created this piece of book art in order to highlight the terror of school shooting situations and other crises. The book includes an image of the single text that Ms. Shafer received from her wife, saying “Don’t panic, but we are in lockdown. Active shooter…” Also, the book folds out to display a brick wall, a red man holding up a gun, and a series of words that are places where children have found guns in their homes. Hearing Ms. Shafer speak about this piece really made me feel sickened as she poured out her emotions when explaining the idea behind this piece and it made me think about how prevalent these school shootings have become.

            Overall, I am extremely happy that I attended this lecture by Jaime Lynn Shafer. The dedication she has to her work is extraordinary and you can see this through her books. With each piece, she triggers emotions in those who look through her books since they all focus on real life issues and situations. After attending this lecture, I am interested in this form of art and hopefully seeing more artists’ works like Ms. Shafers.

Lecture Review: Mark Pinto

Artist Lecture: Mark Pinto, Social Artist

            Mark Pinto delivered a lecture here at the University of Nevada, Reno in which I attended. Mark is a social artist who focuses his work on the post-war lives of veterans. As a veteran of the United States Marines, Mark can fully relate to and understand how life after war is and what its like. His pieces reflect the many costs of war, specifically the cost it has on those who actively participate in being our nation’s warriors. Personally, it amazes me how Mark creates this work and has to relive the horrific things that happen in war every time he creates a new project. However, this is what drives him and fuels him to continue creating this art.

            Mark’s photography series titled Joes Come Home consists of multiple photographs of G.I. Joe dolls posed in various situations that veterans must face every day after they come home from war. For example, one of the photographs is titled Homeless Joe and features one of the dolls dressed in his uniform and sitting against a fence. The veteran doll is wrapped up in a trash bag blanket, which really makes one feel the hopeless feeling that these veterans face on a daily basis after coming home. The photographs show all different types of hardships that veterans face, like alcoholism, traumatic injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, suicide, unemployment, becoming a convict, and more.

            Two other pieces that go hand-in-hand are titled 22 Joes and Janes Every Day and 22 Joes Every Day. These pieces visualize how every single day, there are approximately 22 veterans that commit suicide. The first piece mentioned is a mural in San Francisco on a brick wall. The painting displays 22 white stick figures that have committed suicide by hanging with a parachute rope. The mural also serves as a monument, dedicated to those who have taken their lives. The second piece mentioned has the same premise; however, it is an interactive piece. The piece requires individuals to help hang 22 plastic dolls around the neck using toy parachute cords. This piece must really have an emotional effect on those who participate, as you are physically hanging something that represents our veterans.

            Mark Pinto’s work definitely serves as a means to create change. By highlighting the situations that veterans go through when they come home from war, Mark sheds light on the fact that our country needs to help improve the lives of those who go off to war in order to protect the United States.

Project #3: Augmented Reality

Artist Statement: For the final project this semester, ART 350S set up a table outside of the UNR Knowledge Center and asked passerby's to mold statues out of clay. We figured that since our school doesn't have many sculpture gardens, it would be awesome to create a virtual one of student-curated works. After students finished their sculptures, we divided and conquered. My partner for the project, Michael Villanueva and I took the iSense 3D scanner and scanned the clay sculptures so that we could manipulate them in Autodesk Maya 2015. Using the software, we colored the models and were able to do some back-end database work in order to have these functioning augmented reality sculptures through the Layar app. Our sculptures were pretty much all things that should be in the air, and we made them bright and vibrant since they look like children's toys. Anyone can view these sculptures outside of the UNR Knowledge Center by downloading the Layar app on their smartphone, searching up "Derp Squad :D" under GeoLayers, and moving to see the point of interest.

It's a Free-for-all

Artist Statement:
The year is 2056. The earth has been used and abused and natural resources are at an all-time low. I have become a nomadic being, hopping between existing structures, houses and buildings for shelter. Most of the land has been cleared of any vegetation, so the ground is mainly dirt. It is impossible to travel outdoors without a filtration helmet as a result of the heavy CO2 pollution that exists in the atmosphere. Also, this helps with windstorms that carry heavy amounts of dust in the air. I’m forced to always be on high alert, as there is no more control over the human population. We are all on our own now and fending for ourselves. For food, I am forced to scavenge whatever resources I can, and can somehow manage to find some fish in the ocean. My clothes that never leave my body consist of a heavy and durable leather jacket, coupled with motorcycle pants for durability. By shoes are utility boots in order to tackle any terrain and protect my feet.