The Amarillo Museum of Art recently hosted what has become the annual Amarillo College, WTAMU Student/Faculty exhibition. As always, the talent and quality of especially the young artists astounds. This post examines just a few works shown by the students and teachers from each institution.
Interstices
Charcoal on Paper
Stephanie Jung, AC faculty member, created, in Interstices a powerful, life-size representation of the the yin/yang of relationship dynamics. By her own description, she danced along the periphery of tropes to convey the ideas of blending, bonding, and merging with the inherent difficulties and disappointments in all Anima/Animus relationships.
Study after Albrecht Durer
Charcoal on Paper
Gavin Dorman, a sophomore at AC, outdid the German Renaissance master in this creation from life drawing.
Qunatum Gender
Mixed Media on Panel
Vance McSwain, from the WTAMU art faculty created this symbolic study of the whole gender identity paradigm in Qunatum Gender. Note especially the prominently-placed apples and oranges, challenging to the viewer to reconsider preconceptions.
Eve
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas
In Eve, graduate student Nina Wyre created a tour de force iconoclastic portrayal of first woman-womankind. If she is producing works like this while still in college, the art world is on notice!
Bison
Digital Media on Paper
Junior Blake Cripps captured a shamanic image of the noble animals that once roamed the Panhandle in the millions. This work is on par with those of the first people whose artwork is in galleries in Taos and on Canyon Road.
Distance
Acrylic on Panel
Finally, Junior Aaron Taylor III, in an evocative piece entitled Distance, captured a quality reminiscent of Puberty, the disturbing work of Norwegian Edvard Munch.
If a purpose of artists is to suggest alternative perspectives, then the students and teachers at both schools accomplished their mission splendidly!
Our gratitude goes to both departments for their support and perpetuation of the arts, and to AMOA for again hosting this exhibition.
This collaboration is a fundamental reason that the arts in Amarillo flourish, and we, as always, want to “Keep Amarillo Artsy! Keep Austin Weird! Keep Lubbock in the Rear View Mirror!!!!!”
Keep Amarillo Artsy 