Artists Rebecca Glaspy, Alyse LaVerne, Kelly Leal, Julie McNiel, Jake Mondragon and Fernando Ramirez will present their creations in an exhibit produced by students enrolled in HSU’s Art Museum and Gallery Practices Program. Students take part in the daily management and planning of shows, giving them real-life opportunities to develop their gallery and museum skills for the job market. Many First Street graduates have gone on to careers in museums and galleries throughout the nation.
Six Unruly Artists Paint the Town runs the gamut from realist interpretations to imaginative expressions. The exhibition offers a broad spectrum of painterly expression that embodies the infinite choices of subjects and methods available to contemporary artists. In one room, figurative works capture thought-provoking issues of personal, political, interpersonal and societal affairs. Ramirez portrays an intimate series that examines “self-love” and the importance of observing in one’s self the “difference in masculinity/femininity, dominance/submission and other such gender-based binary oppositions.” Glaspy’s feminist-inspired paintings address gender inequalities and biases in portraits of powerful women who have endured and thrived despite the hardships and judgments they face merely because they are born female.
Julie McNiel grasps her imaginative license and “re-creates for us to see” her mind’s “fanciful and powerful world of characters, stories and imaginary landscapes drawn from all the realms and influences of her life (Artweek magazine, November 2007).” Kelly Leal’s approach to art lets “elements and forms come as they would.”
An open house will be held on Saturday, November 7, for the show’s closing.
First Street Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12-5 p.m. and is located at 422 First Street, Old Town, Eureka. Dial (707) 826-3424 or to see example of these artists’ works, visit the gallery’s web site at www.humboldt.edu/~first.