Student Award Show at The Else Gallery

Jeff Carter,  Extension, Oil on Canvas 

First I want to say that I did really enjoy the majority of the work shown at the Student Award Show on the Sac State campus. With that being said I want to express how much I disliked the set up of the show. I’m not sure what it was exactly; it felt kind of empty, kind of like there was not enough works being shown.  The works were spaced out well but the gallery just felt a little barren to me. Along with that there were false walls that were oddly placed along one side of the space providing more room to hang works but it broke up the gallery unevenly and in an unusual way. This was the first time I have ever been to the Else Gallery on campus so I am unaware if this is just how the gallery is normally arranged. Adding to the fact that I did not initially like the space, something was going on in the gallery the day I went and people were moving things in and out of a room in the gallery space, which became annoying while trying to look at the work.

Roberta Rousos, Time's Subject, Fiber and Found Objects

Moving back to the art, I liked the range of pieces that were shown here from a string installation, to sculptures created from found objects, and even a dress made from newspaper and plastic bags. With all the wonderful different mediums being used I ended up loving the oil painting by Jeff Carter called Extension (pictured at the top of the page). I immediately gravitated to this work; it was one of the first I seen, after walking in, and I went back to it several times. The use of color brought this piece to life. The subject matter is so simple and commonplace but the realistic qualities of the people shown grab the viewer’s attention. The highlight on the little boys face, the mans check, and the mans large belly bring the viewers eye all the way around the painting allowing one to enjoy the image as well as get caught up in the varying splashes of color.

Paper or Plastic detail

Lindsey McGrath, Paper or Plastic?,
Mixed Media Sculpture

Another piece I enjoyed was Time’s Subject by Roberta Rousos (pictured). I really wanted this piece to move, probably because it reminded me of a clock and would have loved to see it move in some way, but enjoyed it nonetheless. I feel working with found objects takes real creativity and imagination, to see another use or direction for something that was previously used for something totally different.

Lidia Lepe-Bañales, Pacman, Indian
Ink with Water, (detail)

Doug Loree, Singularity, Acrylic on Panel

Overall I felt the student works were strong and I feel everyone especially art students should see what their fellow classmen are producing. These are the future artists and creative minds that will producing work once they are finished with their degrees so it is nice to see what kind of talent is coming out of your own school.

Sean Hong, Let Me Through, Acrylic on Canvas

Lauen Patt, Clouded Sun, Acrylic on Wood, (detail)

Stephanie Mainwaring, Untitled II, Water Color

Contemporary Korean Prints Shown at Sac State

Promotional piece hanging outside the library

(From left) Prayer-1 and
Prayer-3, woodcut, by, Suh Sang Hwan

(From left) Prayer-2 and
Prayer-4, woodcut, by, Suh Sang Hwan

This show called The Land The People: Contemporary Korean Prints was exhibited at the University Library Gallery on the California State University, Sacramento campus. Ten artists were exhibited all working with various types of printmaking, from woodcut, to linocut and even experimental processes. Most of the work was on the larger side making it easy to see the immense detail that went in to all of these works. Though there was a universal theme of Korean throughout the show the works were all different.

Portrait in Gray #2, Linocut, by Jung Won Chul 2001

The works ranged from images that looked mythological in nature to landscapes to abstracted cityscapes and even almost photo-realistic portraits. None of the prints were framed, which worked well with this show. Behind glass these pieces would have been restricted and the viewer would not get the impression of these processes being done by hand. The way the work was displayed looked amazing, the prints were not laid flat on the wall but put on brackets leaving space between the prints and the wall itself. This gave the viewer the opportunity to see the thickness and texture of the material used, in a show like this where all the works were prints it seemed important to be able to get a good look at the material so one could better understand why a print appeared the way it did. This gallery had great lighting and lots of natural light that flooded the space.

2:01pm Myungdong, Woodcut, Yoon Yeo Geul 20

Chamsungdan- Our Navel, 2000, Woodcut
by An Jeong Min

(Closeup detail shot) Namhan
River-Danyang, 2009, Woodcut
by Kim Eok

The work that stood out the most for me was the installation, Face to Face by Jung Won Chul. They were linocut prints, which is a process similar to woodcut but the material being used is linoleum. The installation consisted of eight separate pieces of PVC sheets with a linocut print of a portrait on each. These portraits were so realistic and detailed that you could see the individual personalities of each person. From afar these could have easily been mistaken for photographs, it is not until the viewer comes closer that one can see all the tiny scratches that make up the portraits. The detail and realistic quality in these prints impressed me beyond belief. 

Myself in front of the work,
Height-Width-Depth-Sea Seal 21-24, 2011
 Woodcut printed on silicon by
An Jeong Min

(One Portion) Sparkling Eyes, 2013,
 Installation of Woodcuts created to support
 demonstrations and activist activities.
By Lee Yun Yop

This small but powerful show also included an installation of woodcuts created to support demonstrations and activist activities, by Lee Yun Yop. This piece was interesting; it consisted of a huge collage-like work that took up a portion of two separate walls.  It included many different images and was the only work that incorporated color in the whole show. Overall the exhibition brought a nice taste of Contemporary Korean prints to Sacramento.

Face to Face, 2004 Linocut printed on PVC sheet, by Jung Won Chul

(one portrait from the installation) Face to Face, 2004 Linocut printed on PVC sheet
by Jung Won Chul