Whitworth University Lied Center for the Arts Bryan Oliver Gallery:“Smoke and Mirrors”

I attended the faculty art exhibit at Whitworth University Lied
Center for the Arts Bryan Oliver Gallery on November 15, 2001.The
exhibit was entitled “Smoke and Mirrors.” This art exhibit was an eclectic mixture
of art styles and technics. The different works of art ranged from engaging and
inviting to dark and mysterious. The first art work that you see when you enter
the room is the looming digital print by Brytton Bjorngaard entitled “the words
of a talebearer are as wounds”. This print makes a bold statement in its large
looming size and its eerie, deconstructed impression. It has a shocking yet
tender feel to it. There was also a series of digital print by Brytton Bjorngaard
that where based on family. These paintings were done mostly in black and
whites with a contrasting color of red. These paintings have a very personal
feeling to them like you are looking in on someone else’s history or life. The
paintings had a mysterious feeling to them, because the names of the paintings
where very emotional and cryptic. The subject matter of the pictures where
bright and cherry but the dark black, white and red color add a sinister edge
to the paintings. There was also a very bright oil painting by Melissa Lang
called “Vespertillo III”. This painting had a feeling of movement and energy.
My favoritepiece of art in this collection was the digital recording of a man with a cloud
of birds and stars looming over his head. This picture was constantly moving
and changing. It was engaging to the views and made them wonder what would
happen to the man. The swarm of birds over his head progressively got thicker
and faster and the man progressively slumped lower and lower. My interpretation
of this was that the swarm up above his head represented chaos or stress that
eventually overwhelmed him and weighed him down.
Overall,I think the art was thought provoking and engaging to the viewer. I think it
had the effect of making the viewer not only enjoy the art visually, but
curious to figure out the motivation behind the work. This exhibit runs through
February 11, 2011. The Gallery is open to the public most business hours. There
will be a lecture by the artist on February the 9th at 6pm. I would encourage anyone to come and view thisexhibit not only because the art work is visually interesting, but because the
art will have you invested in trying to figure out the meaning long after you
leave the exhibit.