Week 9
This week at the OSilas Gallery, everything has been just fine. I read an article on feminism artwork and have decided to share a few thoughts on it. As I have mentioned in the past, our gallery is able to share exhibitions that may not be shown in other places such as our quilt show that we had last semester. I want to discuss the quilt show because forty years ago, it may not have been thought of as art. It was thought of as someone’s craft or something that a mother did, it was not thought of as art. With great artists like today, we can now consider it art and take pleasure that female artists are being recognized. In our own gallery we do have a good number of female artists, though they are not feminist arts, and I do not want to speak for them, but two of our artists have put some feminist qualities into their work. One of the artists, Michele Brody, who’s art work is the Grass Skirts shows nature mixed in with as she puts it, “feminine embodiment.” These skirts are just that, skirts. They represent nature and a feminist quality, which in my eyes could translate into a Mother Earth representation. This is my opinion and people who see it can disagree or agree with me. The other artist Eva Baskkeslett made a film Alchemy – The Poetry of Bread is about bread making. She incorporates her family traditions and how making bread has been passed down from generation. This shows culture and family influence at its greatest. These types of artwork may not have been thought of as art so I am glad to have the opportunity to work and learn in an environment that is open to all creativity and feminist influences.
Week 8
Alive and green, that is how I would describe the OSilas Gallery this week. It is starting to feel a little bit more like spring and our plants are defiantly feeling it. I read an article this week on architecture in museums, which led me to want to to discuss the architecture of the gallery this week. Our gallery is just that, a gallery with modern and classical features. We are blessed with gorgeous window galleries that bring in natural light but also have views of the campus. A squared shape helps give a good layout for artwork. The brick arches in the window galleries make a nice separation among the larger space. What we have not shown with our currant show are the removable little walls. There are two of them that have, in the past, been put out to hang paintings or other artwork. This is a great way to either make a space more personal or taking them away and having an open space, which is what we have now. Our window galleries give viewers a personal encounter with the art. For example, standing with the white cedar plants is really a great experience. The high ceilings make seeing the art and putting it up, a lot better. I think our community on and off campus really helps make the OSilas Gallery special and with great designs we are all able to be thankful for the architecture.
Week 7
After our spring break I am happy to see that our plants in the OSilas Gallery have continued to grow and live! I know I have said this in the past but this exhibit that we have, Nurturing Nature: Artists Engage the Environment really is unlike anything we have had at Concordia College. As a College, we tend to have more freedom then a big museum. We are smaller but I think it works in our favor because visitors can have a more personal relationship with the art around them. My article that I read this past week was about how college galleries are different then museum galleries. The obvious reasons are size and museums may have permanent collections but with a college art gallery, the community on and off campus can be more involved with the school’s gallery. Shanley and I discussed how we have this exhibit, which gets people around Concordia to come and view the work, and how great it has been that we had the opportunity to show these works. You normally do not get to see grass skirts or watch a movie about saving a tree but here you do and because of our gallery we are able to show what these artists have done. As students we can take time looking around and question what we see, we have the ability to come back as many times as we want and not be told what to think by museum guides, we can think of our own ideas of what things are. Our present exhibit definitely makes you think of how you can help the environment but also may change people’s mind on what they think art may be. I look forward to learning more during the next two months and am thankful for the OSilas Gallery. I hope everyone can get learn something when they view the show.
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