The recent works of 17 New York artists are currently available to Mississippi State University students in the McComas Art Gallery.
“The 17 artists in ‘New York, New Work: The Object Direct in Recent Art,’ know the 1970s. They know the 1980s. These years formed their foundation for understanding both the real world and the art world,” the curator of the exhibit, Matthew Fisher, said in the exhibit’s curator statement.
He said these young New York artists allow themselves to let their mistakes in their artwork add to their final pieces.
“If the show has a theme it’s a generational one,” MSU gallery director, Bill Andrews said.
The concept of the show was suggested by James Davis, a professor in the art department. When they took some of the art students on a trip to New York last fall break and met Fisher, they asked him if he would like to set up a show at MSU, he said.
“We jut sort of followed our instincts,” Andrews said.
The show took six or seven months for Fisher to put together. He made studio visits and viewed art and put together something he thought would make a good show, he said.
“He wanted to include people he didn’t even know,” Andrews said.
Once the art arrived in Mississippi, the gallery management class, along with professors in the art department, had to install the show together.
It took about 25 to 30 hours to hang the art in the proper places and fix the light specifically on the art, Andrews said.
“Probably the most interesting part of the installation was by Jim Lee,” MSU exhibit coordinator, Robert Ring said.
Lee sent his art with instructions for the students to follow to put it together. There were wood blocks, paint and the measurements, he said.
“He sent his work in a crate, and it turned out that that was one of the pieces,” Ring said.
The crate was meant to get black marks from it being moved. The three pieces inside of the crate were also sent with instructions on where they would go, he said.
Junior photography major Anna Haley said the gallery management class spent about 8 to 10 hours helping prepare the installation, “We really worked like a team. Some people measured where to put artwork up, some took them out of boxes, some put labels. We have to build an installation,” Haley said.
Each of the students in the gallery class is required to spend three hours a week managing the gallery, she said. She said she gets to see the people, usually art majors, coming into the gallery to see the show.
“It’s been steady, but it’s usually the couple days before it closes that everybody comes in because that’s when papers are due,” Haley said.
Her favorite piece in the show is “Mr. Olympia” by Mark Stockton, a charcoal drawing of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his body building days, because it is a huge piece with a lot of detail, she said.
“It just amazes me how many hours it could have taken him,” Haley said.
“Mr. Olympia” was kind of difficult to install because it is on a 10-foot sheet of paper, Ring said.
“It is an impressive piece. The scale and seeing all the work [put into] creating it,” he said.
The exhibit features the work of Patrick Brennan, Holly Coulis, Stacy Fisher, J.J. Garfinkel, Dan Gluibizzi, Mike Hein, Ridley Howard, Jim Lee, Dustin London, Saira McLaren, Cindy Stockton Moore, John O’Connor, Meridith Pingree, Rudy Shepherd, Mark Stockton, Charlotta Westergren and Mitchell Wright.
“This show is a good way for students to see what is going on here and in New York,” Ring said. It is also a good way for them to see work of artists who range from ages 28 to 38, he said.
“These are artists that aren’t quite that far ahead in age and experience. A lot of them have their masters degrees, but I think one or two of them don’t,” Ring said.
The exhibit began on Aug. 25 and runs until Sept. 25. It is available in the McComas Art Gallery, which is located in the basement. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.