For a budding artist, undergraduate and graduate school can be a time of development, sometimes shaky, and at other times beautifully brilliant. Art is a process, and a long one at that, and I personally enjoy exploring the early works of the greats such as Salvador Dalí or Andy Warhol and seeing their growth as artists. The process of an artist finding themself and their style in their work is captivating, and I saw this very phenomenon at WUD Art’s 88th Annual Student Art Show at Union South. Displaying emerging student artists from the UW-Madison community, the show provides a varied collection of works in numerous media formats that all illustrate the creativity and passion of our own students.
Although small in size, the Student Art Show offers a diverse variety of gorgeous art. One of my favorites was “Black Honey” by Sarah Rose Smiley, a piece of photography that ensnared my attention so completely I did not realize I was looking at it for nearly fifteen minutes. The peaceful tones of the photo contrasted stunningly with the raw sensuality of the honey pouring over a woman’s face. Another piece that caught my attention was a pen and ink canvas done by Lee Troz, titled “Banano.” With simple strokes and blots of black ink, the artist seems to capture the movement of two abstract dancers in action. Its simplicity is what makes it so interesting. Ken Seligson’s “The Master” was another thought-provoking piece. Done in contrasting black ink on paper, the work displays a calm elderly man methodically assembling small figurines. What makes the drawing so intriguing, however, is that the man and his surroundings are made up of miniscule, condensed drawings of people, animals and objects put together to form the picture of the man as a whole. Perhaps alluding to a creator of the universe, I enjoyed the multi-layered levels this work contains.
Some pieces at the Student Art Show were not as well-developed. The work “Chubby Spiderman” by Noah Huber, although rich in texture, lacked any coherent sense of structure to me. It seemed as if the artist focused too closely on the layered texture of the art itself, and not the subject he was painting. The flow and rhythm of the piece is choppy, making my eyes bounce sporadically across the work, not flowing in a consistent pattern. In addition, I feel as if the title of the work was a secondary thought, slapped ironically on the piece without any real contemplation put into it.
Overall, the students of UW-Madison are developing into unique, innovative artists. Splashed with color and emotion or subdued with poise and grace, the pieces of the 88th Annual Student Art Show are as unique as they are beautiful. Filled with promise, I look forward to viewing these student’s other works in the future, and perhaps even looking back at these earlier pieces to view their progress into one of the masters themselves.
