Jake Grubman – Special to The Southern News –
If you get the chance to visit Earl Hall, you can always find interesting pieces of art to admire. From photos and sculptures to paintings and drawings, Earl is decorated with the work of talented Southern students. Now if you go upstairs to the second floor, you can also take a look at exhibits from individual students.
Greg Bianchini, 23, senior studio art major displayed his work in Earl Hall last week as part of the Senior Art Exhibit.
Since 2009, it has been a graduation requirement for all studio art majors (with the exception of graphic design and art education) to have a senior exhibit. On Wednesday Nov. 28, 23-year-old Greg Bianchini held his exhibit and around 75 friends, students, and family members attended.
Greg Bianchini’s concentration is in photography but he is well-rounded with the different types of studio work. His collection shows work from almost every class he took and Bianchini said he paid homage to all of his professors.
A camera, one of three sculptures from Bianchini’s exhibit.
His exhibit consisted of three sculptures, several paintings and drawings made from pastels and acrylic, as well as a wall of photos from his Advanced Digital Photography class. The photo series shows pieces of technology combined with nature and “each photograph was set up, composed, and lit authentically.” Many of the photos were taken at night with long exposure and interesting colored lights.
Bianchini says his art has a “cohesive theme of cryptic undertones.”
His artist statement about the photos says the “Photographs [are] inspired by the existentialism of both our reliance on technology and our desensitization to the artificial.”
Much of his work is inspired by existentialism and what it means to be human. The centerpiece of his exhibit was an eight by 12 foot mosaic called “Untitled #19,836.” This piece is made up of 19,836 pieces of cork and the idea was to “use each cork as an individual pixel and create a tangible version of a digital image.” The medium is acrylic on wine corks.
A friend of Bianchini, Anne Castro stated, “That’s a lot of wine.”
Bianchini said the corks took a couple years to collect and the gluing and painting took a month. After college Bianchini said he is going to “get out there, network, and hit the art scene”
Art exhibits last a week or two usually and the artist often provides food. With approximately 100 studio art majors in the program, Earl Hall hosts an exhibit every week or two.
This week, Jessica Zielonka and Ray Ayala are having their senior exhibits put on display. There will be one more exhibit for the remainder of the semester.
According to art department chair Greg Cochenet, after renovation of the old section of Buley Library in 2014, seniors will have full exhibitions and the students will have more space.
