Ausburg Art Galleries

This week I went to Ausburg College in Minneapolis two view two art exhibits. The first one I saw is Pixel & Pen: An exhibit of digital art and processes in the Christensen Art Gallery. Check out this website for more information on it: http://www.augsburg.edu/galleries/pixel_pen.html. The exhibit features 13 pieces of artwork from various artists, created by various artists by "manipulated traditional media to computer rendered vector and analog art" (Ausburg didactic). At the end of the hallway of artwork is a computer going through a slideshow. The slideshow shows how some of the pieces were digitally created; appearing to be lots of line "drawing" on the computer and layers of shapes of colors. It is amazing how these lines, shapes, and colors come together to look like objects and people.

My first favorite piece is a digital print by Nicholas Blechman titled, "Auto Hell" done in 2002. The background is a royal blue. In the center of the picture shows the front part of a car with the hood up. The car is a simple drawing of black lines, as is the city drawing scene inside the car. Wide black squiggled lines are coming up from the city/car engine representing the pollution. I liked this piece because of the pollution message, it could be a promotion poster on walls. And I liked to learn the process and steps of how it was made from the slide show; I thought the blue background would be the first step, but the center city was actually the first.

The second piece of artwork I liked was "Shoe Show" by Andy Powell in 2009. He used pen, ink, acrylic, correction tape and digital. It shows a woman's fishnet stocking leg in the center of the artwork coming down into a two-inch open toed high healed shoe. The shoe is standing on a red carpet, on either side are spotlights shooting up into the air. The background is a dull grayish blue color that makes the reddish orange carpet line pop. I liked this piece because I would want it for my house. It has a cute 20s/30s Hollywood glamor feel to it. It's neeat that the white spotlights are made from correctional tape.


Next I walked down to the Gage Family Center at Ausburg College to see the exhibit What's Up? by Lucia Hwang. Check out more information on it here:http://www.augsburg.edu/galleries/hwang.html. The purpose of this exhibit, as Hwang states is, "the true confession and acceptance of this schismatic world". In a schismatic world for this exhibit, I think Hwang is portraying the differences between materialistic and non-materialistic people in the world. She describes herself as humble and she is comparing herself to the people that view materials as to what gives them worth.

Hwang uses everyday household materials and adds a humorous twist to portraying the schismatic world. There are four different 3-D artwork pieces, but they are all linked together by an imitation Louis Vuitton like print.

When I see a person with something in a Louis Vuitton print, I think of that object as high-quality, also overpriced to give it a perception to rich people that they need that print to show they social status. Kids beg their parents for Louis Vuitton because it is what the rich and famous have, even if the kid has a knock-off of the print, she still feels an extra boost to her ego.

What is comical about Hwang's artwork is that she uses that print in ways such as in the chalk line of a murder scene, lining in egg containers, a little purse for a display chicken, toilet paper packaging, and the design on the outside of a trash can.

I liked this exhibit. It reminded me that designers/labels do not mean anything. An LV logo on something does not give it worth.