VCUarts graduates honored on “8 Great Brooklyn Artists Under 30” list

Samantha Foster
Spectrum Editor

Three VCUarts graduates were recently named on a list of the “8 Great Brooklyn Artists Under 30” by L Magazine, a local arts and culture publication in New York City.

Conor Backman, Trudy Benson and Travess Smalley were each named on the list, which includes artists from different media.

Smalley, who was a painting and printmaking major until 2006, concentrates on transferring images from digital form to physical form in his work. While attending VCU, Smalley worked with painting and printmaking professor Peter Baldes, who still teaches in the department.

“I was lucky enough to work with Peter Baldes and he was formative for me. Working with him I began to realize that my painting palette could come from Photoshop,” Smalley said. “He introduced me to large format digital printing and the possibilities the digital can hold for art.”

Smalley is currently preparing for his debut solo exhibition in New York City.

Despite feeling honored that he received the recognition as one of the promising young artists in Brooklyn, Smalley feels as though he now has to continue his work.

“I feel like I have to keep working and prove the article right,” Smalley said.

Benson, who graduated from VCUarts with a degree in painting and printmaking in 2007, focuses her art on creating large-scale abstract paintings. Like Smalley, she is working on her first solo show in New York City. Her show, called “PAINT,” will run at the Horton Gallery and open on April 25.

Benson also feels honored to have been named one of the top artists under the age of 30 in Brooklyn since she considers it difficult to judge young artists.

“I think it’s hard to pass judgment on an artist at such a young age, but I feel honored to have made the cut,” Benson said.

She believes that her time spent at VCUarts encouraged her to try different mediums of work.

“At VCU, I was encouraged to cross over into many different disciplines outside of my painting major. Taking digital printmaking courses helped expand my painting vocabulary while taking sculpture and crafts courses helped me to understand painting’s objecthood,” Benson said. “I think this cross-disciplinary approach to arts education is pretty unique and I don’t think I would be the painter I am today without earning my BFA at VCU.”

Conor Backman graduated from VCUarts in 2012 with a dual degree in sculpture and painting. He is also currently putting together a show in New York City for the fall.

Like the other VCU graduates on the list, he feels honored to be on the list of “8 Great Brooklyn Artists Under 30.”

“I’m happy to be in good company,” Backman said. “There are a lot of strong artists on the list and I’m lucky to have had the privilege of working with several of them in the last few years.”

Backman also encourages students currently studying at VCUarts to connect with artists outside of Richmond.

“Most of my peers left Richmond after finishing their BFAs,”  Backman said. “Try to build a community both at VCU and with artists in other cities whose work you are interested in.”