Photo Courtesy of Gary Fenstamaker
Elm Staff Writer
Another semester has begun and with it a flock of new faces and artwork in the Kohl Gallery. The exhibit, “What Comes Later,” features the work of Heather Harvey and Benjamin Bellas, two new studio-arts professors here at the College.
“A considerable amount of work went into the exhibition,” said Bellas. “Everyone involved worked for months bringing together all of the elements for a wonderfully crafted show.”
“One of the beautiful absurdities of installation art is that you put hours, days, weeks, into a body of work that exists only as long as the show is open. Then it is dismantled and ceases to be. The site specific work was begun in July and completed a few days before the show opened, with some elements having been completed ahead of time. The painted panels are part of a series I have been working on over the course of this past year. It is an ongoing series that I continue to add to,” said Harvey.
The work being showcased is modern art, with pieces including photography, sculpture, and two-dimensional art. Both Harvey and Bellas have had their artwork featured in exhibits nationally, and in Bellas’ case, internationally.
When asked what she hoped the exhibit would bring to campus Harvey said, “I think art, and in particular visual arts, are an incredibly potent and important part of being human.”
“Yet the arts are largely perceived in our pragmatic task-oriented culture as inaccessible, superfluous, and at best a pleasant diversion from more important business. On one hand, I want contemporary art to feel more accessible to non-artist, something they can understand, interrogate, and be enriched by. On the other hand, I want to undermine the tendency to think art should always be beautiful, technically facile, or immediately understandable.”
“I hope the exhibition will bring an opportunity for the campus to join in the conversation concerning the Arts locally, nationally and beyond,” said Bellas.