Thought of as boring, dull, and generally uninteresting to most students, art museums do not rank high on everyday to-do lists. However, with a new exhibit displaying student art, the Lowe Art Museum should definitely being moving up the ranks in the list. Held annually, the Juried Student Art Exhibit gives students a chance to display their works in a formal museum setting. Totaling over 200 entries, only the best 60 pieces of art are displayed in the Greene wing of the Lowe art museum; replacing the Change and Continuity Indian and Folk Art traveling art collection. Divided into sections of printmaking, graphic design, photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture and video, the art is the best of the graduate and undergraduate work from UM’s Art Department.
An exquisite example of sculpture, one of the most noticeable pieces in the main gallery of the venue is a bust mounted to the wall. Molded by Gregory Di Micco, the head is uniquely shaped, much like Di Micco’s plexi-glass encased sneaker made of metal wire that distinctly resembles styles of Nike and New Balance. Across the gallery the walls are filled with different photography series, all capturing and portraying very different moods. The winners of the top awards in the category were K. Anne Harper who won Juror’s Best in Show for her Paper Girl Series, Ashley Saks, winner of the Thomson Photo Award for her Schizophrenia Series, and Zachary Ordonez who won the Michele Edelson Award in Photography for his Organic Ambiguities Series. In conjunction, the entries for the graphic design category were enlightening, specifically Eric Marks image New York State of Mind which combines images of the infamous Big Apple with what seems to be a self-portrait and pictures of protestors waving a flag.
The other pieces in the gallery are mostly landscape paintings done in oils and charcoals. A particularly interesting painting done for mixed media was The Morning is Full by Andrew Jay Gambrell. The painting was a mixture of what seemed to be scrap materials, such as cardboard, a bamboo mat, and even scraps of computer paper.
Overall the art exhibited in the Lowe was both fascinating and mentally stimulating, showcasing an array of uninhibited and expressive works by members of the student body. The exhibit runs from April 10 to June 6, check it out for some insight.
The Lowe Art Museum is open Tues., Wed., Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Thursdays the museum is open from noon to 7 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. General admission is $5 for adults; $3 for seniors; and absolutely free for UM students with ID.
Joanna Davila can be contacted at j.davila1@umiami.edu.