The galleries affiliated with Ohio University have a busy week.
Four exhibitions of different disciplines will fill the Ohio University Art Gallery in Seigfred Hall, the Trisolini Gallery in Baker University Center, the Kennedy Museum of Art and Majestic Galleries in Nelsonville.
Third-year graduate student Kathleen Elyse went into a doctor’s office for a sinus infection; instead she said the doctor lectured her for 45 minutes about how she needed to lose weight. Tapping into that experience, Elyse created her sculpture and expanded practices exhibition titled, “I Can Resist Everything Except Temptation.”
“It’s the idea of fat-shaming in the medical industry,” Elyse said. “Medical professionals essentially assuming patients’ lifestyles without asking them any questions.”
For Laura Barr-Jones’ “Residue, Action and the Mundane,” she also went with a personal idea but focused on the home. Using various sizes of drywall that have gone through cycles of painting and wallpapering, her sculpture exhibition questions the ideals of spotlessness.
“We go through life and accumulate all this stuff that smears surfaces, stains and distorts what we think of as this clear, clean ideal,” said Barr-Jones, a third-year graduate student studying sculpture and expanded practices. “But it also makes them interesting and gives them character.”
Pulling from the collections of the Kennedy, the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, and private collectors, the 15 students of the Museum Studies Certificate program, which began in Fall Semester, are unveiling two exhibitions as the fruition of their practicum class.
Divided into two cohorts, the students developed and designed “Constructing Perspectives,” which examines physical boundaries, and “EXCESSive,” which looks at the use of “too much.”
Babz Jewell, a senior studying art history who worked on “Constructing Perspectives,” said she has enjoyed the opportunities the program has opened up to her, even with her four years of experience working at the Kennedy.
“In the museum, I don’t have the ultimate say in what is curated in an exhibition,” she said. “I work for Petra (Kralickova), so she decides what goes in. But this is students, so I had a lot more say.”
Mateo Galvano has the
final exhibition of the week with “Catch and Release,” which he said is about paying attention to moments, holding on to them and then letting them go. Using several disciplines such as painting, photography and sound, Galvano said walking into the gallery is like walking into an environment; it’s not just looking at paintings on a wall.
“I look at the whole thing as a book, and the drawings are the spine of the book,” said Galvano, a third-year graduate studying studio art painting and drawing. “Then all these pieces fit in to shape the meaning.”
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If You Go
What: “I Can Resist Everything Except Temptation” – Kathleen Elyse, Sculpture and Expanded Practices Graduate Thesis Exhibition
When: Tuesday-Saturday; opening reception 6 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Ohio University Art Gallery, Seigfred Hall
Admission: Free
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What: “Residue, Action and the Mundane” – Laura Barr-Jones, Sculpture and Expanded Practices Graduate Thesis Exhibition
When: Tuesday-Saturday; closing reception 6 p.m., Friday
Where: Trisolini Gallery, Baker University Center
Admission: Free
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What: Museum Studies Exhibition: “Constructing Perspectives” and “EXCESSive”
When: Opening Reception: 4 p.m., Wednesday; official opening on Thursday
Where: Kennedy Museum of Art
Admission: Free
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What: “Catch and Release” – Mateo Galvano, Painting and Drawing Graduate Thesis Exhibition
When: On view from April 4-20; reception 6 p.m., April 11
Where: Majestic Galleries, 20 Public Square, Nelsonville, Ohio
Admission: Free
