By Kat Cardenas, Staff writer
The final gallery exhibition of the semester, “Contemporary Abstract and Nonrepresentational Painting,” took place in the Lore Degenstein Gallery on April 21.
The exhibition was co-curated by gallery director Dan Olivetti and sophomore gallery assistant Quinn Evans and marked the 25th anniversary of the gallery.
The show featured nine artists: Neil Anderson, Valerie Allen, Carol Galligan, Claire Giblin, Susan Gottlieb, Jerome Hershey, Mark Mahosky, John McCluskey and John Myers.
According to Olivetti, this was his first show featuring abstract art, as well as his first time asking a gallery assistant to co-curate with him.
“Quinn is a talented artist, one of very few studio art majors at SU and she was wonderful to work with at the gallery,” Olivetti said. “She was excited to be a cocurator and proceeded to research abstract painters from her home area, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”
Evans explained the planning process behind the exhibition, which began last summer.
“My parents are heavily involved in the art scene in Lancaster and so many of them I have known for several years and have always admired their work,” Evans said. “Gottlieb was actually a photography teacher of mine and I have always loved the vibrancy of her art, so I was thrilled when she was willing to participate in the show.”
“[Olivetti] knows that I intend to follow a career path towards becoming a gallery director myself someday, so he asked me if I’d be interested in helping out,” Evans continued. “Immediately I said yes, because an opportunity like this doesn’t come often to a student.”
Evans elaborated on what cocurating the exhibition meant to her in terms of her career.
“I was honored when Olivetti asked me to co-curate because it has always been something I am interested in,” Evans said. “To have this experience as a sophomore in college and interact with all the artists as a curator has been incredible.”
“I definitely consider it a significant step in furthering my career in the art world,” Evans added.
Senior gallery assistant Damian Munoz, who helped with the exhibition, said his favorite part of the exhibition was the variety.
“My favorite part of this show is the fact that it is truly a survey of modern abstract and nonrepresentational art,” Munoz said. “We have the work of nine different artists with completely different approaches to abstraction.”
“When the viewer comes in they could really see a plentiful helping of what abstraction really is and some great telling examples of abstraction,” Munoz continued.
Munoz also praised the ability to converse with the artists featured while at the exhibition.
“At the opening we have a talk where the artists that are able to attend explain some of the motivations and meanings behind their pieces,” Munoz said. “Attendees learned a great deal about their approaches and methodologies with abstract art.”
“I had a great conversation with Hershey and he was explaining to me how he built up layers from a blank canvas to a finished product,” Munoz said. “In these pieces are layers of geometry and texts that all pile up to a finished product.”
Olivetti also noted the opportunity to speak with artists at the event.
“It’s always interesting and rewarding to meet new artists,” Olivetti said. “By the time the show is up in the gallery, I usually feel like they are almost like old friends.”
Olivetti also commented on seeing the exhibition flourish from its original idea to the final form.
“To see an idea that began in the summer turn into a beautiful exhibition in the gallery is the ultimate reward,” Olivetti said.
Previous exhibitions from this academic year included “Closeup II: Nine Contemporary Cuban Artists” and “Prints by Women.”
