Handwerker Gallery Newsletter
Summer/Fall 2000 – Volume 2, Number 2
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Babies (2000)
by Peter Linley '00, Michael McGrath '00, and Tim Smith '00
Grass Balls
(2000) by Michael McGrath '00
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Annual Senior Student Exhibition
The Handwerker
Gallery's annual senior student exhibition is a persuasive overview
of the work of Ithaca College art and photography students. The
photographs, paintings, installations, books, sculptures, and drawings
grouped together help viewers realize the broad spectrum of talent
at Ithaca College.
Angela Wilson
was one of 30 students who exhibited their work at this year's show,
held from April 20 to May 13. "It's nice to be able to walk into
the gallery and see your work," she said. "You've worked for something
for so long, and now you can see it and get feedback from others
instead of just those in your class and your professors."
Untitled (2000) by Angela Wilson '00
Her Untitled
(2000) consisted of four color photographs of grocery store aisles.
Although the shelves offer many choices, the store looks barren.
In a statement accompanying the work, Wilson wrote, "Is all this
excess really necessary? Are all these choices really good for us
or a detriment?"
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Self Totem
(2000) by Peter Linley '00
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Other photographs on display were more modern, such as Jessica Paul's
Untitled (2000). The six photos of snow and branches, contrasting
black and white, emphasized the simplicity and purity of nature.
Through the
works in the exhibit, viewers were able to learn more about the
student artists, their backgrounds, and their ideas, as well as
to take a critical look at the images themselves.
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 Rebecca
Carlson’s fragmented face was pieced together in two works, both called
Untitled (2000). Also on display was Peter Linley's Self Totem,
in which copies of a plaster mold of Linley's face were attached to a
slab of wood. While they were similar, the white faces seemed eerily different,
representing multiple identities.
 Some
of the best works were installations, such as Jacquelyn Shulman's Untitled
(2000). In her artist's statement, she wrote, "In my piece I want to explore
how gender and sexuality are constructed in popular women's magazines.
. . . In isolating and emphasizing each ad, I hope to manifest the naturalization
of femininity and heterosexuality used in marketing and consumer culture."
One could smell the fragrant powder that covered the mirror. Gaudy Mardi
Gras beads, makeup, hair gel, and a strawberry-flavored condom were strewn
among several women's magazines. In this context, the women's smiles and
laughter took on new meaning.
The show was all over
the place - individual artists' works were very different - a positive
thing. In one of Michael McGrath's installations, Grass Balls (2000),
11 grass balls hung from the ceiling. These pieces of earth, once part
of the ground, were now airborne. Linley, McGrath, and Tim Smith's Babies
installation included a warning: "Viewers may find some pieces of artwork
explicit or disturbing." Dolls were charred, tied, stabbed, hanging, floating,
growing, and smiling while an odd soundtrack of distorted noises and high-pitched
voices played in the background. It was an affecting image.
- Erin Negley '00
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