The first of two visiting faculty exhibitions — which together will feature works by the 14 visiting professors that have taught at the College since the opening of the Black Family Visual Arts Center — opened in the Strauss Gallery on Sept. 22nd, director of exhibitions and studio art professor Gerald Auten said. It features the work of professors Sarah Amos, Paul Bowen, Ariel Freiberg, Hein Koh, Julie Puttgen, Edward del Rosario and Jessica Tam.
The studio art department frequently hosts visiting professors, and there can be up to three visiting faculty and critics each term. All students enrolled in a studio art course must attend the presentations of visiting artists.
“I think the value of these faculty exhibitions is that students who have studied with these visiting faculty can see what they do,” Auten said.
Though all the works are by visiting professors, there is no explicit theme tying the exhibition together, Auten said.
The lack of theme gave the artists an opportunity to experiment with their pieces. Hein Koh ’98, one of the showcased artists, taught at the College in the fall of 2013 and winter of 2014. Koh submitted a sculptural piece called “Blue Balls” that is currently on display.
“My process is very intuitive and it comes from the materials,” Koh said. “I started working with the pantyhose, and then I discovered this clear resin and started playing around with the materials. I didn’t necessarily have a concept in mind, but as I play with the materials something comes out of it.”
Without the need to conform to any theme or influence, Koh was able to allow the materials to determine her direction.
“I found that my work was just throwing a reference to body and sexuality, these things that I was interested in started coming out in my work,” she said.
Bowen originally came to the College as an artist-in-residence, but later taught classes and more recently served as a visiting faculty member. Bowen’s piece, called “Angler,” is made from a raincoat from his youth as well as embroidery hoops, a child’s drum frame and a tar-like material called asphaltum. Bowen said that the visuals that have dominated his previous work, including circles and the color black, are featured in this piece as well as influences from his childhood.
Auten said that the only constraints given were of practical nature.
“We had to give them some size constraints, because you couldn’t have seven artists showing 12-foot paintings, so I talked to each artist and we discussed what they would show so that all seven pieces would fit in the space,” Auten said. “It’s interesting, given the constraints of the space, what the artists decide to submit.”
Auten said that the show did not just serve the students, but the faculty as well.
“I think for the faculty, especially for the visiting faculty shows, it’s good to see their work within the context of their colleagues, with their other visiting peers,” he said.
Auten remarked on the variety of mediums and perspectives on display.
“We have such a variety of exhibitors. There’s this range of artwork from the local and our student and faculty work, to our internationally-acclaimed contemporary artists,” Auten said. “There’s this kind of breadth- — breadth of artwork and contemporary practice — that we exhibit here. I think that allows our students to get a really good idea of contemporary art practice.”
Bowen echoed this sentiment. Students can benefit from a program that exposes them to a wide range of aesthetics and perspectives, Bowen said
“One of the great strengths of the department is that they bring in a very varied kind of aesthetic, from people from all over the place,” she said.
Entrance into the Strauss Gallery is free, and the gallery is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 12:30 to 10 p.m., and on Sundays from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m.
“It really makes me proud of the range of faculty that we draw here for our students,” Auten said about the exhibition. “It makes me really proud of the program, the department — that we bring such a variety of faculty to come here and visit, to teach.”
