I Give Art One More Chance

Art exhibits are the last place you'll find me. Walking around a hushed gallery pretending to understand the canvas on the wall slathered in mud and clay with a dash of pigs blood is not my idea of a good time. I’ve written before about past experiences with fine art exhibits (check out my first blog post if you haven’t been an avid reader of this blog). In short, I’d rather watch paint dry then actually see that paint once it’s been affixed to a toaster and placed in an art exhibit.

But after reading the reviews of Columbia C33’s newest show Access Excess: The Scene Behind the Stage I decided I’d give the gallery - and art exhibits - another opportunity.

When I first walked in I knew immediately that this show was different. The gallery was divided into four sections: The Wall, The Experience, The Road, and Record Shop, each representing a different aspect of the shows overall theme of making the viewer feel as if the viewer is at a live concert. “The visual elements that often fade into the background of rock shows, plays and performances of all kinds - band t-shirts, posters, album art, post-event photos, fashion, advertisements and fliers - are the focus and displayed objects of Access Excess.” explains the show’s Press Release.

The show features work by Sarah Sarsaw, Stacey Huffstutler and Rick Cohen, among others who worked to combine a variety of majors. From photography, graphic design, to illustration and even fashion. The Wall, Experience, and Road sections all were filled with photographs, some mounted in CD cases, others hanging alone. The pictures themselves depict live musical events and are filled with energy, bright colors, and the pure passion that resides within the performers, the fans, and even the photographers taking them.

Another wall, featuring the work of Darron Alexander, Ronda Debbern, Jillian Fisher, Greg Ochab, and Nigel Ridgeway, is covered in band posters representing both the marketing campaigns and the emotional and cultural missions of the performances themselves. One of my favorite pieces in the exhibit was a wall covered by a massive graffiti mural that channels all of the shows energy into a single piece.

I think the reason I can connect to the exhibit as a whole, when past exhibits in this same gallery have not been interesting to me, is because of the feelings that the pieces themselves evoke. While in the past I have felt as if the pieces have required vast amounts of art knowledge and intense thoughts, these pieces are so real and alive they emote both the feeling of actually being at the events portrayed and many of the ideals behind this college as well.

As I walk the gallery my gaze drifts from the pieces to the large windows looking out onto the bustle of Wabash Avenue, then back to more pieces within the space. We as a school strive to unite both the city in which we live and the art we create within it. I think this exhibit displays both of these aspects. On one hand it explores the art involved in putting on a live show, on the other it displays the urbanity of our camps and our art community as a whole. While the show has since closed, the thought behind it emphasizes what I feel should be the driving factor of all artwork; attempting to evoke a feeling of reality within an enclosed medium. Art should transport us somewhere else, even if that place is familiar to us. We should be able to look at a picture and feel as if we are its subject. The pieces within this gallery allow us to do just that.




Photos provided by the Columbia College website.