Undergraduate Artists Kick off 2017 Season at the Anderson

      If you walked through the doors of the Anderson Gallery anytime between March 24 to April 9,  you would have initially been met with the specific quiet, sterile silence characteristic of many galleries. However, step deeper into the building and you would have been greeted by  the smell of aging cupcake  and a wreckage of popped balloons lying the floor, indicating  a youthful chaos captured in the VCUarts Spring 2017 Arts + Design Exhibition.

        Every year the arts department has its end-of-year exhibitions at The Anderson Gallery on  907 ½ Franklin St. It takes place over six weeks and is free to the public.The annual exhibit features the work of various programs within the Arts school including,Craft/Material Studies, Kinetic Imaging, Painting + Printmaking, Photography + Film, Sculpture + Extended Media, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Art Foundation and Communication Arts.

       Rather than being separated by their medium of creation, the pieces are interspersed amongst each other. The juxtaposition of the melting, bulbous ceramics piece “Organ” by Joanna Patzig and the laser precision Laney Engle’s, “Webbing,” – which was created  of cut paper – is indicative of the shows prerogative to keep its audience simultaneously  disoriented and fascinated as they move from piece to piece.

        The film/kinetic imaging submissions play on a loop on the second floor and directly across are the pieces which were voted “best” in their specific medium. The “Best in Show” overall was a fiberglass lattice created by VCU student, Stuart Shepard, titled “Threading Error.”

         Though the top floor was not technically part of the gallery there was a display of sketchbooks conglomerated from all the artists which were pinned to the wall with fanned out pages. This additional exhibit, as well as a fashion displays in the next room over helped continue this concept of integrated and intersectional works of arts.

        “There is a lot here,” said an anonymous student who was covering the information table at the beginning of the exhibit and double majors in Painting and Printmaking.  “We got a new juror this year and some people are kind of griping about how much stuff was accepted and showcased. But  I’ve also heard a lot of patrons saying this is the strongest gallery we’ve produced in years.”

The juror of the 2017 show invited by VCUarts is Julia Monroe. She is co-director of the Reynolds Gallery, a fixture amongst the Richmond fine art scene.

Though the Undergraduate Arts + Design Exhibit has ended, The Anderson Gallery will host two Graduate thesis exhibits  which will be displayed on  April 14 and  April 28 respectively.

Dawn Scott, Contributing Writer