Student Awards Show: Robert Else Gallery

Robert Else Gallery

Jeff Carter, Extension, oil on canvas

Hello everyone, I recently toured the Robert Else Gallery here at Sacramento State which is showcasing  students works for the Annual Student Awards Show.  A little background first, the Robert Else Gallery was named for well known Professor of Art Emeritus Robert Else and is used almost exclusively for student art.  Currently there are works by 27 students at both the undergrad and grad level in a variety of mediums from painting to animated short film.  The students who submitted works were competing for scholarship awards in different categories which also included an art history award which was located in a separate category.  I will update who the winners were in a later blog when I get further details.  The Else Gallery offers a great opportunity for students to showcase their work and get a feeling of how their education can be applied in the field so to speak.  Receiving support and praise from both students and professors alike can also make a young artist more confident in their craft. 
When looking at the art itself I was really impressed by some of the work I looked at.  I have to say as an artist myself I have a slight bias to the painters of the group, but there
were other mediums well represented as well.

Sean Hong, Let Me Through, acrylic on canvas

The first work to really catch my eye was Extension by Jeff Carter.  The palette choice works well in this painting because of the cool blues mixed with reds and the very warm orange.  Although the composition looks like it was done from a photograph the use of colors portraying shadows give it a less "Polaroid Effect"than most paintings that can fall victim to it.  The brush strokes and portrait placement also make it somewhat reminiscent of a Lucian Freud painting.
The next work that stuck out both literally and figuratively was that of Brian D. Burns II in is work titled The Red Door.  The immediate thing that sticks out besides the pieces of the work itself are the obvious similarities to works by Robert Rauschenberg, the famous Neo-Dadaist.

Brian D. Burns II, The Red Door, mixed media

Another painting that I spend quite a bit of time looking at was by Sean Hong titled Let me Through.  What appears to be an urban landscape takes the viewers perspective and warps it with his displacement of objects both in and outside themselves.  It is as if you are looking through a prism of sorts or maybe some sort of special window.  There is some tension created due to the eye wanting to correct what you are seeing and could allude to what the title is referring to in some aspect.  Overall I was very impressed by the talent represented and I hope Sac State and other institutions don't underestimate the importance of art education as it is an integral aspect of student expression.

http://www.csus.edu/galleries/else.html