Marion Art Gallery features student works in two senior shows

The Department of Visual Arts and New Media at the State University of New York at Fredonia will celebrate the accomplishments of graduating art majors with two April exhibition openings in the Cathy and Jess Marion Art Gallery.

The first exhibition, titled “Negative Space No. 8,” opens on Friday, April 14, with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. and is on display through April 20. The second senior show, titled “me  you,” opens on April 28 with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m., and is on display through May 4.

The receptions and exhibitions are free and open to the public. The Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery is located on the first floor of Rockefeller Arts Center on the Fredonia campus.

As the title suggests, “Negative Space No. 8” includes artwork by eight seniors. They are:

• Eusebiu Ardelean, a graphic design major from Rochester.
• Mark Chmiel, a sculpture major from Lake View.
• Ed Gallivan, an animation/illustration major from Silver Creek.
• Rebecca Masiker, a graphic design major from Stockton.
• Richard McKaba, a graphic design major from New City.
• Veronica Mehl, a photography major from Deer Park.
• Taylor Slavin, a photography major from Wellsville.
• Tess Woodruff, a sculpture major from Scottsville.

Ardelean uses his design skills to create a branding and promotional campaign for the Wild America Nature Festival at Panama Rocks Scenic Park. Chmiel creates highly abstracted human figures “to stimulate a conversation reminiscent of youth and wonderment.” Gallivan’s animation and sculpture “The SeaHorse Theory” is about the political issue of abortion.

Masiker’s series of posters focuses on local debates about the Trump administration and how each side can effectively communicate with one another. McKaba created a re-branding/modernization campaign for a fictitious store J&M Markets. Mehl uses both digital photography and the 19th century gum bichromate process to create painterly images of her mother’s garden.

In her photographic series “A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen and the Bedroom,” Slavin juxtaposes objects from each room to tackle the stereotyping and belittlement of women. Using embroidery and video Woodruff contemplates time and memory while telling the story of Conesus Lake and its changes over an 80-year period.

The exhibition “me  you” includes artwork by six seniors. They are:

• Rachel Barbato, a graphic design major from Rochester.
• Julian Perez, a sculpture major from Dunkirk.
• Emma Rousch, an animation/illustration major from Lancaster.
• James Scamacca, a graphic design major from Elma.
• Hannah Shea, an animation/illustration major from Ithaca.
• John Weaver, a graphic design major from West Seneca.

With her project “Innovative Typography in Design,” Barbato illustrates the conventions, power, meaning, and expressive qualities of typography. Perez focuses on the magic of mundane objects in his installation “Delivery” by creating porcelain packing peanuts that spill out of shipping crates. Rousch encourages the audience to interact with her handmade dolls, not only to bring back the childhood sense of fun and wonderment, but also to introduce the concept of the sensual object, which exists only as experience.

In his multi-media installation “Who Is She?,” Scamacca introduces the character Claire O Voyant who symbolizes the unlimited power of womanhood. Hyper and Hypo, red and blue, are tasked with regulating the distribution of the body’s thyroid hormones in Shea’s rotoscope animation “Hyper Hypo.” In her digital cutout animation “Odocoileus viginianus,” Shea uses the journey of a white-tailed deer as a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment. Weaver was inspired to create the graphic novel “Space Dog Retrieval” by the events following the 9/11 terrorist attack and the current war on global and domestic terrorism.

The senior show is intended as a summation for all B.F.A. students in the Department of Visual Arts and New Media, in which they integrate their four-year experience around a coherent body of work. The senior show is an opportunity for students from various studio areas to collaborate and bring together their creative work within a critical forum.

These exhibitions are supported by the Department of Visual Arts and New Media, the Fredonia College Foundation’s Cathy and Jesse Marion Endowment Fund and the Friends of Rockefeller Arts Center. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday noon to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 6 p.m., and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. The Gallery is closed on Mondays.

For more information or a group tour of the exhibitions, contact gallery director Barbara Räcker at 716-673-4897 or via email.