“Ten Alumnae/i” exhibits works

Marcella Veneziale Arts Editor

In order to connect studio art graduates and current students, the Palmer Gallery has hosted an exhibit showing off the works of ten graduates, appropriately titled “Ten Alumnae/i Artists.” All hail from graduating classes ’96, ’97, and ’98, and all are working artists at present, creating with a variety of media.

Associate Professor of Art and exhibit curator Peter Charlap commented that it was “good for current students” to see works by Vassar alums, and it is beneficial that “every so often [we] invite back” former students. Some of the artists in the showcase are also currently enrolled in graduate programs in the fine arts.

Even the works which use recognizable media, such as oil paint or pencil on paper, revive old themes. “Sink” by Liz Thach ’97 immediately catches the eye with its liberal strokes of deep red pigment. A second work of Thach’s is displayed alongside “Sink” and shows a continuing interest in the play of light.

Aric Russom ’97 contributes “Eastworks,” a painting of a bright, airy room with a view through arched windows that provides a sweeping panorama of mountain scenery. Two small panels alongside the work provide close-up details of similar windows. Another painting of an artist’s work table gives prominence to a hammer and cup of coffee.

Works on paper from Rebekah Altman ’98 and Brian Getnick ’98 are also presented. Altman presents the natural world in different forms such as birds carrying strings of yarn, small animals’ skulls, and jellyfish. Getnick’s delicate black ink “WE Miss the Light When It is Gone,” depicts spidery tropical flowers opening around a sketched cone.

Installation pieces are also supplied by Christina Tenaglia ’97, with a series of disjointed cylinders and geometrical shapes. Jesse Farber ’98 has a piling of painted wooden boards with a question mark and exclamation point rising from the mass and titled, tongue-in-cheek, “?!”
Millee Tibbs ’98 uses a plastic, synthetic material to sew pillowcases, which are placed beneath the work “Tablecloth (aka Later for Dinner),” which reimagines ordinary fabrics and domestic objects in rougher terms.

The alumnae/i artists—particularly Tenaglia, Farber, and David Gillich ’96—also contribute several photographs. Tenaglia’s black and white prints reveal edges of structures, one of which seems to be part of a carnival, with most of the work devoted to empty sky. Farber arranges an overlapping series of photographs which show lights streaming by and stylized comets in a work entitled “Hucking.” Gillich’s two photographs of a sink follow a similar thread as Thach’s painting, and then provide a much closer-up view of detritus in the drain.

Former students were eager to participate in the show, and that Charlap “got a good response” from the solicitation. The Palmer Gallery display was an easy decision, as its location in the heart of the College Center puts the art “where students would see the work.” A panel of five artists will be held on Sept. 16 in Taylor 203, where the Vassar-honed ambitions of the artists will be discussed in depth.