Well, it certainly is colorful.
“Altered States” is an explosion of bright hues on the walls of the Visual Art Building’s main gallery running through Feb 14.
In bold oranges, greens, reds and blues, Scott Barber, Emily Joyce, Chris Kysor, Chris Jaggers, Janet Tyson, Jeffer Yerger and Marco Villegas morph, simplify and pixilate the world around them into a collection of singular works that somehow all work together.
“I tried to thread the artists visually from one to the next,” said John Pomara, curator and assistant professor in arts & humanities.
A literal mountain of primary-colored Legos in “Paramount,” by Tyson, is grouped with the lime-green and yellows of the angular “long way she wave. one” and “long way she wave. two” by Villegas. The geometric shapes of these two pieces fit nicely with the pixilation found in other works, said Pomara.
But sandwiched between these is “Caution without Panic” by Joyce. The geometric element of Joyce’s work marries this piece with that of Tyson and Villegas, but there are also organic shapes simplified from pop culture images, Pomara said.
Pixilation is most evident in “untitled” by Yerger. Jagged green lines bleed off the canvas, onto the floor and around a corner making the canvas almost incidental.
Scott Barber incorporates a more personal source for his work, his own cancer blood cells, which are manipulated on the computer and recreated on aluminum panels.
Thick layers of paint overlap in graduated colors of reds, blues and greens looking more like a geological, satellite photograph than microscopic blood cells.
The largest painting in the exhibit is “Garage World,” by Jagers. Layers of overlapping images in purple, red and yellow seem more like an airplane hanger than a garage.
Overall, the exhibit is attractive with its bold colors and pleasing shapes. The eye flows from one work to the next smoothly and even a skeptic of modern painting will find this art show worthwhile.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Visual Arts Building is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
– Melissa Lum also contributed to this report