The usual individual or small group student galleries were once again taken over by senior showcases in the penultimate student art gallery.
The exhibition titled “Shifting Through the Circuit” featured 14 artists from the drawing and painting majors and the exhibition titled, “Being” featured four photography students.
The varying painting styles in the exhibition included abstract, still life, figurative, impressionism, expressionism, street art and more.
“One reason I love abstraction is because it can be a different experience for every viewer,” said Vivian Torres, senior bachelor’s of fine arts in drawing and photography. “They can see something that I don’t see and in that way I want it to be more of an emotional experience.”
Many of the students showcased in this show are already showing their art at professional galleries, such as Rebecca Sanchez, senior bachelor’s of fine arts in drawing painting. Her piece titled, “Build All Of Me Like I Used To Be” will be on display at the Tiger Strikes Asteroid gallery in Los Angeles beginning May 25.
Across from the Gatov and Merlino galleries, “Being” displayed photo collections from four students that all focused on people, but each from different perspectives.
Some were people in nature, in a white out studio and some held specific items like plastic shopping bags, symbolic fruits, ducks and lotus flowers. Each student had their own approach to photography that were explained in their artist statements at the gallery.
“They said my photos are unique and I choose interesting objects and composition,” said Henry Duong Nguyen, senior photography major.
Nguyen’s photographs included five brightly colored, partly nude portraits of Vietnamese people posed with cultural objects, a piece that is meant to challenge his country’s conservative values and traditions on sexuality and gender roles.
Three pieces from “Red Culture,” the title of Nguyen’s photo series, will also be featured in the “Insights 2019” exhibition at the University Art Museum which opens Thursday afternoon.
“Shifting Through the Circuit” and “Being” will run until Thursday. They are located in the galleries between the Fine Arts 2 and Fine Arts 3 buildings. The galleries are open from noon to 5 p.m., except on Wednesday when they are open until 7 p.m. The final student galleries of the semester will run from May 12 to 16 and will feature ceramics, sculpture and painting.