Art gallery showcases amateur, professional pieces

Jordan Bradley Staff Writer

UNA’s art gallery is currently hosting two art exhibitions, featuring works by artist Andrew Winn and students in the foundation courses of art.

Winn’s exhibition of acrylic paintings will be hosted in the upper gallery of the Art Building until Feb. 17, while the Foundation Courses Exhibition will display student works in the downstairs gallery until Feb. 18.

“The art department is giving the students an exhibition opportunity for the purpose to share with peers, to learn from each other,” said Chiong-Yiao Chen, chair of the art department.

The Foundation Courses Exhibition is made up of works constructed in the Design I, Design II, Drawing I and Sculpture I classes from the Fall 2010 semester.

According to Chen, the art gallery usually showcases work from individual classes, but this time the four classes have been combined to form a larger exhibition.

The types of work shown in the Foundation Courses Exhibition range from 2-D drawings to 3-D constructions to polished sculptures, but Chen said that all of the works are from students learning to use tools to express their own ideas.

“Some artists work emotionally; others work more strategically,” said Chen. “The students in the foundation courses learned to put the visual elements together to create a statement.”

While the Foundation Courses Exhibition showcases the work of beginning students, Andrew Winn’s exhibition showcases work from a professional artist with a unique style.

His pieces are loosely based on composite digital pictures, which are basically pictures overlaid onto themselves several times.

Winn then paints his own idea of a portrait based on the digital picture, using acrylic paint to create images that can be both disturbing and amazing.

The style of Winn’s paintings can easily draw a person’s full attention, but according to Chen, the fact that Winn uses acrylic paint instead of traditional paint to create the portraits is just as stunning.

“It’s an industrial material used so successfully that he is able to produce the layers of glazing present in oil paintings,” said Chen. Chen also said that while the use of acrylic painting is increasing, work in Winn’s style is still hard to find.

Art gallery assistant Bryant Hardaway agreed about the quality of Winn’s paintings and hopes more people will feel the same way about his work.

“I wish more people would know that really good work comes through here,” said Hardaway. “I’m being inspired to push work further, and it’s helping me grow by seeing his work as an artist.”

The Art Gallery will host a gallery reception on the final day of Winn’s exhibit, Feb. 17. For more information on the exhibit, call 256-765-4384.