Welcome to the World of Primary Shapes, Teapots and the Crossroads Blues

Welcome to the World of Primary Shapes, Teapots and the Crossroads Blues 

From Hard News Cafe 11/13/03

It's like stepping into another world. One moment you are walking across campus with AC/DC blasting through your headphones, the next you arrive at the Tippetts Exhibit Hall, turn off your CD player and step into a world of creativity, originality and remarkable craftsmanship, also called the annual Undergraduate Art Exhibition.

Yes, I know, they say that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but this beholder is really fascinated by what he experiences.

All you hear is the constant humming of the air-conditioning and the soft, muffled sounds of a very skilled piano student practicing in the room behind the Exhibit Hall, which really fits the atmosphere. The first thing that will probably catch your eye because of its big size and beauty is an untitled oil-on-canvas painting by John Fosum of a woman lying bent on a couch.

Right next to it you will find the Primary Shapes by Andrew Williams, a monoprint displaying just very simple shapes in the primary colors red, green, blue and yellow.

Impossible to overlook is Jed Maddocks' Agoraphobia, a huge, palm tree-like work of art made of steel, wool and cement that almost touches the ceiling. Also very remarkable right next to it is the work by John Hansen, called Washed Your Hands. It is a sink whose left half Hansen transformed into two ceramic washing hands.

Another impressive statue by John Hansen can be found on the other end of the Exhibit Hall. Frustration strongly expresses every aspect of this emotion. Hansen might have encountered it himself sometime during his creative process, but it obviously did not keep him from doing a remarkable job on this sculpture. There are no limitations whatsoever to the arsenal of techniques the artists used for their works; you will find virtually every kind of art you could possibly imagine. (Well, at least every kind of art that this "not-so-creative-when-it-comes-to-art" journalist brain can imagine): A sculpture of a sitting man (Worn Out by John Hansen) made of papier mache and old work gloves, as well as a modified refrigerator filled with books (Hungry for a Good Book? by John B. Pincock) or the beautiful ceramic Paddled Temoku Teapot by Brian Olsen.

On the walls the variety of work is by no means smaller. There is everything: From "classic" oil on canvas paintings such as Ike Bushman's Things Are Still Complex and C-Type prints such as Mannequins by Christy Baugh (C-Type refers to a fugitive color with a low color permanence) to rather "modern" techniques such as inkjet prints (Masumi Shibata's In Between #11), digital photographs (#660 by Sara Lundberg) and digitally rendered photos such as Chad Keyes' View Two.

As diverse as the techniques are the inspirations for these works. Bret Hanson's Crossroads Blues refers the legend of the 1930s blues guitar player Robert Johnson, who was said to have sold his soul to the devil to become a famous guitar player. Right next to it, Casey Hyper's Learning to Fly captures the spirit of an even older dream: the dream of flying.

So don't be Worn Out, overcome your Frustration and Agoraphobia and enter the fascinating world of arts. The exhibition will be open through 5 p.m. Friday. The closing reception will be that same day from 6 to 8 p.m.