Next stop… This girl is on her way to Christensen Art Gallery and The Gage Family Art Gallery, woot woot!!

Warm, opening, soothing music and a real unique set up for Lucia Hwang’s art exhibit, I strongly recommend everyone to see this. Her art game me a unique meaning. Before I explain what I depicted out of her art I am going to introduce some Lucia.

Lucia was born in Korea and has a BA in fine arts. “What’s Up?” is describe as “The moment we open our eyes in the morning, we begin the process of acceptance and rejection of the world that surrounds us. We accept the things familiar, soothing, comforting and valuable in our lives. We also reject both in physical and in psychologies, those that do not comfort our souls. The dichotomy of love and hate, pride and humility in everyday life is the basis of this work. The conflict occurs when we are unable to either accept or reject the reality that surrounds us. This work represents the inner conflict that material world challenge to our innermost emotional well-being. We are all vulnerable and fragile individual easily manipulated and solicited. Yet deep in our heart, we know the outer shell does not even begin to represent the pulsating and ever-growing inner individuality.”

As I looked at the mix media art I noticed three main pieces Project I, Louise Chicken 9’ x 5’ x 1’, Project II, Trash Can 7’ x 5’ x 2’ and Project III, Thinking about you, 8’ x 8’ x 2’.

Project I, Louise Chicken, was of a chicken that was hip hopped out. Holding a bag with the initials “CL” stamped on it. In comparison the egg cartoons also had the same stamp referencing each other. The initials hold the same design as Louie Phonton.

Judging by the name of the piece I understood the mix media representing change and challenges. As we wake up and look around we notice things but we may fail to act on them. Rejecting ourselves from taking on the challenge of change because of the outcome we may discover.

What I really enjoyed about the works of art is a person can and could come up with their own personal meaning to the piece of art.

Project II, Trash Can, was very unique. The piece of art was of a trash can lying sideways and open on the ground, attached to the can is a chain that is locked and keyed to a post. Lying next to the can is a sign that reads “Private Property Keep Out.” Once again the initials “CL” are stamped on the can.

As I continued to look at this work of art I gathered this piece could represent wealth and fame. The trash can is open for the public to view what is in side and no matter how much you make a point to say my life is my life it is still open for the world to view. By chaining the can your showing owner ship and requesting others to keep out, however that doesn’t always happen and I believe that is what the work of art is representing and presenting.

Project III, Thinking about you, is of 365 rolls of toilet paper scattered around a toilet! Stamped onto the rolls of toilet paper are the same initials as the other pieces. All works of art correspond and represent one piece due to the stamping of the initials

As I viewed this work I decided it represented the fast paced world and how people do not have time to think of others or relax. Judging by the name of the work of art it gave me the thought the art shows the only time someone will have time to think or relax is while in the bathroom. I believe this happens to many individuals with the economy.

I really enjoyed this exhibit and would definitely say it was one of my favorites. I strongly feel there is a lot of philosophy and politics represented in these pieces. I encourage all to view and come up with your own ideas for what the artist is trying to show!

Next exhibit brought me to “Pixel and Pen,” digital artist with hand rendering and computer drawing. This exhibit held 12 different digital art artists.

I am not much for digital art and I don’t have much of an opinion on it, however, I did find two pictures I found very interesting!

Q. Cssetti, portrait of Kitty, 2008, digital art. I really liked this piece because it didn’t look like digital art but rather of a painting. This piece was very defined and simple. The artist used very simple colors with limited shades. She did a really good job with the form of the picture and clarity. I found myself seeing this picture out of all the others. It popped and was easy to focus on.

The next picture was Roman Versotko, Madame Curie, 2006, ink on paper. This work of art was very soft and un-noticeable. It was very difficult to make out the picture and reminded me on Japanese art with ink on paper. The color looks like color pencil detail and holds Japanese letters/ words on the bottom. I believe this picture allows the viewer to day dream and use their imagination. If it is anything like Japanese art I would assume the picture and wording is of a poem or letter.

I wasn’t as impressed with the digital art as I was with the mix media. The room and atmosphere of each room was different as well. I believe it could have been due to the location and lighting. Pixel was located in the main entrance of the school and was surrounded by windows with many students walking around. The other exhibit is in walking distance of an entrance but wasn’t as occupied.

The Precious Object

For each person the word precious can have many different meanings but to some art students “The Precious Object” means so much more. Two weeks ago my art expedition sent me to the Minneapolis Library, MN. The libraries architecture was phenomenal to the extent you wouldn’t even think about the building being a library if it wasn’t for the large stone sign that reads “Minneapolis Library.”

The building is constructed from a large amount of glass that holds many different levels. As you walk in you’re greeted with a large opening that shows the variety of the different levels. I was seriously in “AWE” as I walked through the building. I remember repeating on many different occasions “I am in a library?” I promise you if you have not been to the library or don’t even like the library this library you have to see!!! This building is constructed for all viewers and offers
many different things; although, I was only truly interested in the art exhibit.

The exhibit is located on the second floor. It’s a small room with a bit of a worm atmosphere the tiles of the floor give the room a bit of a color but the art that is in the room brightens it to no other. I could not remember the last time I had seen some really interesting art that made me stare for minuets. The details of the art that was there were incredible.

The title of the exhibit that was appearing in the library was called “The Precious Object,” the exhibits held the theme of bring groups of objects to one location to find out how they would interact with another across many different disciplines. The objects are to bring an early impulse from the contemporary age and to help viewers understand the world in rational orders. From the start of Europe to the home of Minnesotans and across the world “The Precious Object,” continues to spread.

Out of all the different creative forms of art I found four pieces to draw my attention the most those four pieces were Bellicose Biotype, Blinded by words, Mimicry and It could have happened yesterday; it could have happen today.

Bellicose Biotope by Liz Miller, mixed media, 2009 was a very interesting piece that hung from the ceiling of the exhibit. It was created through different materials with the main material being felt. Ms. Miller is involved in the relationships between the environment and the man made environment. Her piece that was showing at this exhibit was of multiple floras that were both beautiful and dangerous. She is trying to capture the beauty of organic and organic growth.
I found her piece very interesting and yet also expiring.

The next piece was blinded by Words by Beth Barron, hand stitched cotton thread on cotton cloth with dog hair, 2009. Ms. Barron has a love for words, poetry and letters. This was very much recognized through her work of art.

What I found very interesting and eye catching in her piece is that the viewer was not capable of seeing any words until he or she was to use the megaphine glass that was offered to them. Once the viewer was to use this tool it was very clear she had stitched small words into the fabric. The stitching is the same color as the clothed material and dog hair.

I really enjoyed this piece and I thought it was very clever of her to use white and white throughout the whole piece but for a small detail of red that was stitched in but in small portions.
Mimicry by Alison Hittner, mixed media: wax, clay and artificial flowers, 2009. This piece I thought was very creative and unique. I had never seen anything like this but reminded me of some kind of poisons flower that one would see on a movie.

Ms. Hittner was trying to express endless possibilities and continuous evolutions. Where she could express the question “what if mundane objects were suddenly infused with life?” she expressed her art with exploration of one’s potential path in an alternate natural history. By doing this she creative small shaped flowers assorted with many different colors to show a human and environment theme.

The next piece that seemed to catch my eye for a long while was it could have happened yesterday or could have happened today by Andy Ducett, mixed media, 2009. His piece used many different common house hold objects to create one master piece.

Mr. Ducett’s main priority in this project was exploring the identity of groups and relationships of objects. He wanted to express selective memory and personal significant of different objects one would collect over time. He used these objects as a mind map recalling his childhood memories in Minnesota’s pop culture.

I really enjoyed looking at this piece and the different Medias, I found he used lights, towels, fan, quit tips, elephant, cups, record player, posters and much more. It was really neat how he incorporated each item into a whole project. The meaning of each piece was recognized or the viewer could create their own memory from it. I spend most of my time in front of this piece with many other observers. From every angle you stood there was something new to focus on!

The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art's audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public. Paul Gauguin

Up Town Story by Paul Gossel, is what I would consider an 80’s back flash. As I walked into the exhibit I was greeted with a large empty room. White walls and a yellow floor with an abundance of light; placed all the walls were oil painted canvases that reflected a story that only the viewer could create.

I found Gossel’s art to be very creative and yet constructed. He reminded me not only of the 80’s because of the neon colors and comic apparel but also as a mimic of Andy Warhol.

Parallel to the entrance of the exhibit Gossel had a very large painting that was created from individual canvases that were laid out to create one very large painting. The smaller canvases had paintings of two famous individuals that created history. The two individuals that were painted and repeated through the room were of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.
As I sat there viewing the other paintings that where laid out around the room in an orderly fashion I noticed many different characteristics. All of his paintings had something in common. Each painting had a little bit of another painting within the picture.

Yet this may seem very difficult for one to understand without viewing I will try to explain a little more in depth. Paul Gossel had approximately eight paintings that were viewed as a comic. A comic you may find in Bazooka bubble gum wrapper!

Each picture told a story, however; the story was not completed. He placed large bubbles above the male and female head’s with words in them, although; not the entire picture allowed you to be able to read what was wrote in the bubble.

Each picture was significant to one another as well as holding another painting within it. For example in one painting there is a woman (who is in every painting) who looks terrified with a man standing behind her. Above the man there is a bubble that has words however the viewer is not capable of reading what is wrote within the bubble.

I became of aware that Gossel also put small clips of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston’s body parts in the picture. So you may have seen Whitney’s nose in one painting and or Michael’s nose in another. This continued throughout all eight paintings.

I found the longer you sat there the more of the story you could create. It seems as if the artist wanted to draw your attention in for a long period of time. The layout on the wall and the placements of each object in the photo worked together to keep a viewer intrigued.

I feel that Gossel changed many of the pictures with small details that only one who exams the picture for a period of time may have noticed. What I mean by this is in each picture he would change the color of something. For example in comparison to two of his works of art, the female he was painting looked the exact same but had different color lips. I found this to be something he did throughout each painting. I give Gossel props on being able to move a viewer’s eyes around the room without losing their attention or depleting it for that matter.

As I viewed the room I found one picture in particular I enjoyed looking at the most and more frequently than the others this picture was “Dial Tone,” marked media on canvas 2009.
Dial Tone drew me in because of the large word printed behind the female and of the eyes of the female who was in the painting. The painting was of a female who was calling someone. She looked very distressed and anxious. The word DRUG was printed very large behind her as she continued to dial someone’s phone number trying to reach them.

I found myself looking at her facial expression wondering who she would be calling and continuously wondering if it had relation to an overdose or an addiction to drugs.
Once again I was reminded by Andy Warhol’s paintings and his story while viewing “Dial Tone.” I believe this was why I so intrigued with this one work of art.

I strongly recommend each person to view Gossels work “Up Town Story.” I cannot see anyone being dissatisfied and for anyone to be able to get a full description of his work of arts you must view yourself and create your own story!

The next exhibit was “I Have A Map,” by Amy Rice.

Rice’s work of art was very entertaining. I did not find her art to be as creative or as unique as Gossel’s nor did I like her art any more than his. With that said I would like to mention her art mind boggled me and got me wondering how one could have the patients to create the tides’ works of art that she had.

Rice’s works of art were painted onto small pieces of wood somewhat appearing like balsa wood. The paintings were placed in a small room about the size of an average bathroom. Each picture had some sort of symbol representing nature within the painting.

What I found more interesting about her work is that it was created by spray paint, color pencils and acrylics. She used pale soft tones to create her pictures and gave a feeling of peace and prosperity.

As I looked at her works of art I found my favorite to be “Future Café,” spray painted, acrylic and colored pencil 2009.

This picture resembled a 70’s looking camper with a goose on top and a sign that read “The Future Café.” Looking outside for business was a young girl who seemed to be Native American.
This picture intrigued me because of the quote that was printed onto the piece. “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower,” Camus.

I felt the quote accented the picture very well and could make the viewer wonder as well as getting their attention.

Next door to the exhibit was another very fascinating exhibit that I strong recommend everyone to view. This exhibit was a pop culture exhibit. The murals on the side of the building were extravagant and eye catching!

The outdoor viewing of the building gave the public a culture related atmosphere. I felt the vibe of the artistic culture as well as the passion of each individual painter.

I strong feel that a good painter and creative artists are only reflected on how much they love what they do. If one can express themselves in many artistic forms they I believe he or she was made to express themselves and their feelings through art. I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to visit the SOOVAC! I do not feel that anyone would have regrets after words and would only be intrigued with the spray painted art!

The murals on the building were very creative, lively, artistic, unique and colorful. Each one was painted by a different individual and the majority had come from other locations! I noticed that the paints were of women and independence.

I felt a vibe of each woman in her painting and I felt that the paintings resembled women and their rights as well as how strong women can be! In one painting I noticed a quote that said “Well behaved woman seldom make history.” I feel that this quote is very true.

All women who have made history and have fought for our rights have been known for things they were not encouraged to do or were outlawed. Without the fight of those tough women who knows where women would be today!

We have come a long way and we need to continue to move forward so we can become more!
In comparison of these murals and the exhibit I found the environment to be more fun and relaxing as well as more natural. I enjoyed viewing “Mama said knocks you out” and hope more people will visit and enjoy art as much as I do!