Olivia Richman, General Assssignment Reporter:
Every week in Earl Hall, the work of two senior artists is displayed in the Senior Art Exhibitions at Southern.
This past week was Daniel Tazzioli and Nathan Rivera’s time to shine in the spotlight with literal lights brightening up their methodically set up displays.
According to the syllabus for the class, Senior Exhibition, all majors in studio art concentrating in ceramics, jewelry and metals, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture are required to participate in the Senior Student Art Exhibition during their final semester at SCSU.
“It’s a relatively new requirement,” said Jeff Slomba, the faculty gallery coordinator. “As instructor of the senior exhibition, I’m helping students present their work. It’s a culmination of their main body of work, communicating ideas through exhibition. I’m evaluating the quality of the exhibition.”
Nathan Rivera’s exhibit is called “Perspectives of the Cultural Intellect.”
Rivera said it took him two months to complete the paintings.
“My inspiration (for these paintings) was my memories and personal experiences with my culture,” said Rivera.
Most of his paintings are portraits of people.
“I chose people I didn’t know,” said Rivera, “people that represented different experiences with my grandpa, dancing, or listening to Latin music or watching a band play.”
Rivera, who has been creating art since middle school, had one painting of an object, instead of a person.
The painting, called “Mama’s Rice Pot,” was a way to experiment with different types of art.
“There’s a vase of rice put in the corner,” said Rivera. “It’s abstract, and shows a variety in Hispanic culture. It plays off of Cuban folklore art.”
Tazzioli’s art contrasted greatly to the work of Rivera. His artwork was all abstract, a splash of red on the other side of the exhibit.
According to Tazzioli, his art represents emotion, a little bit of philosophy, desire and indulgence and “overall mental and physical human needs.”
“Everyday life experiences inspire me,” he said. “Eating, sitting. Ideas just pop into my head.”
He said he chose his color palette of red and orange to not only portray sexual tension and aggressiveness, but to stand out.
“I wanted it to be physically appealing,” Tazzioli said of his art.
Tazzioli said his paintings took a year to finish and he’d been working on them on and off.
According to him, his favorite piece from the collection is “Untitled 4.”
“At the time I had 100 percent direction,” he said. “It was my strongest idea and I was able to just go and do it.”
Tazzioli said he would like to thank professor Thuan Vu and his advisor, professor Wiley Carr who had been very helpful while he completed his final project.
“The exhibition is a learning process,” said Slomba, “kind of like a lab. It’s an important educational space. This is the first show they’ve installed. In a week they had to figure out how to present their work. This is their week to present.”
Every week until the end of the semester there are two artists on display.
There are 12 exhibitions in total this semester that are graded by Slomba.
“We primarily focus on presentation in the exhibition course,” he said. “Proper lighting and labeling the work are important. We are following professional gallery practices so they have basic working knowledge of how to present their work.”
Both artists said they enjoyed the exhibitions.
“It was a fun experience,” said Rivera.
