Rebekah Wilhelm, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center.
Rebekah Wilhelm, Untitled, detail
Rebekah Wilhelm, Untitled, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center in Fishtown.
Rebekah Wilhelm‘s most excellent print display @ UD Crane is filled with information, tightly packed into clever, spare prints like an art lesson on less is more. The prints of swirling words explains how viewers interact with vision, her chain link fence prints are confounding and restrictive and the reams of paper spread in a long swipe across the floor is provocative yet simple and easy. Wilhelm already has plans to go to work teaching at the University of Delaware and is considering studio space in Philly. DoN chatted with UD Crane curator Anthony Vega, he highlighted how there was more focus on craft and skill in traditional media and no video this year. C. Grant Cox, III includes multimedia and mechanics in his sculpture but there was a noticeable absence of flat screens and projections in the gallery.
Tara Russell, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center.
Jacob Smiley, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center.
Tia Santana, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center. Tia Santana’s performance/installation anchored the lower gallery by the stairs with the artist studiously braiding what looked a lot like hair into long dreads. Dressed in white, Santana focused on expanding the mound of braids, weaving memes like “roots”, “identity” and “work” into a fascinating presentation of a simulacra-like archetype that a week later is still vibrant in DoN‘s mind.
Daniel Jackson, VIII – 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Delaware Department of Art @ Crane Arts Center. Check out Jackson’s web site for a good look at his work, his paintings exhibit not just vibrancy and virtuosity but thoughtful content, decorative panache and strong painting science. The glossy panels thick with layers of saturated color and ancient technique are mashed up with a contemporary sense of irony; Jackson’s paintings illustrate Vega’s observation of skill being penultimate.
Congratulations to Matt Giel for his desirable photographs, Leontien Rotteveel’s beatific objet trouve-like sculpture/installation and the entire class of UD 2011 for a refreshing look at the endurance of art. The gallery is University of Delaware‘s outpost away from school, offering students a really cool space to show their work, creating an aspirational vibe and a real clarity of vision of who artists can be after college.
Photos by DoN.