Verdict is in: student takes critic's eye in art

The student and faculty art series is a chance for Dixie to showcase it’s talent, though like southern Utah, that talent seemed to have a varied topography in ability.

 

The student and faculty showcasing will be available in the Eccles between now and May 4, featuring paintings, sculpture and installation pieces.

 

After viewing the showcase, I found some of the art to be immensely praiseworthy, while others seem to challenge the imagination, only when pondering how they made the display in the first place.

 

Luckily the curator had good sense in posting the artwork, as the most prominent pieces seemed to be of the highest caliber. On the margins and valleys of the Eccles’ Sears Art Museum Gallery were the “I’ll put this on the refrigerator honey,” pieces though, and they seemed to only make the good art look better by comparison. 

 

Guy Smith took the show, or at least my eye, with his avante garde surreal portraiture. His exploded piece on the east facing support wall, a portrait broken into shards of canvases, shows a cracking psyche in color, installation and tone.

 

Across the hall lies two more pieces that gave me pause. “Change Perceptions” is a sculpture that smacks of paper mache done with some sort of wireframe and cardboard-like material. Initially seeming a somewhat simple piece, the conservation of motion and spirit in the two characters is something else. 

 

Opposite the wall with Smith’s piece is an unlabeled collage of smaller works from one artist, showcasing a diverse degree of talent and taste.

   

On the other hand, “Second Sight,” is just the sort of modern art or interpretive art or whatever that makes me cringe. This blue ribboned piece seems to be a cheese grater or a car light or some other circular glass object that doesn’t seem to say a thing. 

 

Similarly, littered around the art show were various works of pottery. Some, like Morgan Clements’ “Woman’s torso,” were absolutely beautiful. His capture of the human form was captivating. I’ve never been accused of cheating on someone with art up until this point. 

 

On the other hand, it seems like some students were channelling Picasso in their works, primarily in the sculptures, though there were also some pseudo-oriental pieces that were far from persuasive. Pro tip: One does not simply imitate life badly to produce great art. 

 

Overall I was highly impressed with the work on display, though I was somewhat disappointed at some of the work that made the cut. If you’ve got a few minutes of spare time between now and May 4, or would like to go on a more sophisticated date, I’d highly recommend it.