Facultyexhibitsdiversityin art

by Shanna Fanelli assistant features editor

If a picture says a thousand words, then the walls of the Grace and Joseph Gorevin Fine Arts Gallery in the Holy Spirit Library put Webster's dictionary to shame.

Spread around the room is an exceptional exhibit parented by the faculty of the fine arts department. The exhibit is a compatible mix of medium and approach, ranging from oil to graphic design, to stoneware to pastel.

Cassandra Maxwell, lecturer in fine arts and children's books illustrator, approaches her work with a subject in mind. The pastel-based creations hold no limits, encouraging and leaving interpretation up to the observer. Maxwell's "Chinese Rider," which she produced o~er the recent snow days, conveys the feel of light and speed. The oil and pastel-based illustration also focuses on diversity, a theme she feels strongly about.

Strong feelings are a dominating force behind the bold shapes and shadows of assistant professor of fine arts Lisa Lerner's pieces. The figure awaiting the train in "Freedom Rider" is her father. Lerner's art is a fascinating display that lures the observer with endless curves and scenes that appear to go on forever.

Lerner "wanted people to be able to feel they can walk into the painting," an effect she captures by playing with distance, angles and light.

The characters in her work are always slightly turned away, so they themselves resemble shadows of ideas.

"I don't want the figures participating in the painting,'' said Lerner.

Participation was the inspiration beneath the logo and T-shirt design created by Don Dempsey, assistant professor of graphic design, for the Boilermaker 15k Road Race. Dempsey was struck by the gargantuan-sized spirit that resided in the small community, a fact symbolized by the row of houses in his graphic design.

Dempsey's other works include a newsletter design, "Adjusting Today," of resource and reference for insurance agencies, as well as a web site for Cabrini College.

Artfully arranged within a glass display sit the gleaming, stoneware objects created by Neil Patterson. The earthy browns and muted moss colors are subtle enough so as not to distract from the shapes of such works like "Covered Jar" and "Pair of Candlesticks." Their presence contributes to the exhibit's air of variety.

Sharing the same section as Patterson are the works of Barbara Mangos. The graphic designs are vivid, and, as shown in the Westinghouse invitation-cattle bearing the company's logo on their derrieres-amusing. Strategy and practicality is key to graphic design. It is up to crafters like Mangos and Dempsey to take a company's words and put it into a picture.

"I like to pick a theme that is familiar with the subject," said Mangos. Hence the cattle in the Dallas design and the black cauldron for Cauldron Chemistry.

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photo by Karin Letcher Lisa Lerner stands next to her oil on canvas piece entitled "Freedom Rider.» Other examples of her works, as well as works by four other faculty members of the Fine Arts Department, are currently on display in the Grace and Joseph Gorevin Fine Arts Gallery in the Holy Spirit Library.

"I think it's really neat," said sophomore Melissa Gledhill.

The exhibit is as interesting as its creators. Influence is a resounding pulse throughout the gallery, but there is no one theme that can be defined, since each piece of work speaks a different message to every person and that, in of itself, is art.

The exhibit will be on display until Tuesday, Feb. 16