UAlbany Art Exhibition

Before arriving at the art museum at UAlbany Jessica and I remembered that Dr. Blum had told the class that the art pieces that were on exhibit was artwork that was done by the seniors for their final art project. I expected to see a variety of art that related to college, triggered emotions, and represented the artists personality/background. After arriving at the museum my thoughts changed quite a bit.

The first piece of art we saw just caught our attention immediately; a mattress with a nightstand, clock and window with a painted view of the ocean stood in the room. However the mattress was rocking and there was noises that represented squesking and groaning coming from exhibit. Jessica and I were both very surprised to find that this was the first art piece we would see, because neither of us had been to an art exhibit before. Now, I really did not know what I would expect to find throughout the rest of the exhibit.

The art exhibit was a two-story room that was just full of paintings, installation art, and sculptures. We walked around downstairs first and saw beautiful tiles that were painted in various colors and patterns, pictures of naked tattooed men and women, and canvases that were painted on. We were starting to wonder if there was some sort of theme for the exhibit, but instead of trying to figure it out we decided to go upstairs and check out the rest of it.

The first piece of art that caught my eye was a statue of wooden legs that were coming off of a white otomen (like the ones you see in girls' dressing rooms). I looked at it confused, wondering what it was suppose to represent or actually be. The next thing that caught my eye was a sulpture half on the wall that looked as if it was two kangaroos heads that were coming off of the same body but at different ends. It was an interesting piece that made me stop and look for a bit. The last exhibit that caught my eye was a very pink room, or that's what Jess and I thought it was at first. After approaching the room we realized that yes, the room was pink, but there was a portrait of a girl on the wall with the word "hate" underneath her and there was garbage on the ground (painted dunkin donut's cups etc). This room was a little disturbing and I wanted to stop looking at it, but it kept my attention in an odd way. The worst part of it was the videos of the girl, who I assume was the artisit, eating food and putting a bra made out of water bottles on her body. This room definitely left me with a strange, uneasy feeling about what I had just seen.

Reflecting back on the visit, I think the exhibit was very unique and eventhough many of the pieces were disturbing I did enjoy experiencing an art exhibit for the first time. It did leave an impression on me because I keep hearing the noises that were playing in the mattress exhibit.

--Rachel