Senior Review

Looking through the BFA show I noticed these paintings by Klint Flentge. The one that held my attention the most of the two that were displayed was Validity/Conversion, consisting of oil paint on a wood panel. What brought me to this piece was the mysterious figures that arise from the background within the piece. As a whole you get an eerie feeling as there are scattered body parts throughout the piece as if Klint is using the gestures of the figures to insinuate some sort of untold narrative. Its composition allows the viewer’s eye to flow through the piece well, connecting the viewer to the artist’s train of thought in creating this piece. The color is very well executed, giving it a dreamy feel, as well as coherently working with its composition to strengthen the flow of movement through the piece. Personally my favorite part of this painting would have to be the fact that the contours of the figures themselves aren’t outlined strongly allowing the figures to merge with the painting as a whole rather than in individual sections. The merging of the figures also allows for the conceptual aspect to broaden for the individual as well allow the viewer to connect one section of the painting to another much easier. I loved this painting and I can’t wait to see more! 

Matt Sellars Review

Matt Sellars show at the Platform Gallery is entirely influenced by the barren landscape of the desert. Included pieces on display vary from drawings, to sculpture, and one video shown in a shack made up of what looks like scavenged wood and cardboard for insulation. Through these pieces he challenges the assumption that the desert is an empty landscape by portraying various objects that are influence by things he observed in the desert. The drawings themselves show the landscape as a line drawing, capturing the dimension of landscape as a mapped out outline of the forms he observed. The sculptures were abstractions of things he saw in the landscape, which at first glance the viewer can definitely tell he looked at some bones the others are not so much as quick to take note of though that's why he has the video to explain why certain things are what they are, or at letting the viewer know his thought process behind making the pieces.  

Overall, considering the subject matter, I believe that he was successful in portraying his concept through his pieces. Though personally I would have enjoyed it more without the video and possibly have had that information elsewhere rather than with the pieces because it sort of took away the mystery of the pieces and more so classified them as artifacts rather than art. I did not get a chance to see the whole video, but the parts that I did watch were resembling that of a documentary which personally pushed me away from it. I would have enjoyed it more if it were short and to the point and more of Matt explaining why he chose the desert rather  than showing the desert itself through the video. Though it is important to make a connection to what the artist was observing I would have rather made the connection to the desert conceptually rather than visually through the video.

Core Final: The Dependent Self