Depictions of Moses with Horns

After visiting a Jewish synagogue I had to ask myself why the horns on Moses? When the early Christian scriptures were translated and spread by word of mouth, Moses was said to have had horns. The Septuagint properly translates the Hebrew phrase into Greek as "his face shone" as in to emit rays of light; while Jerome translates the phrase in the Latin Vulgate as reading "his face was horned." Moses was depicted with small horns late into the Renaissance until the mistranslation was identified.

Student Art Exhibition at the Wignall Museum

Article by:
Casey Hoover, President, Chaffey Art Organization
Ruben Young, Vice President, Chaffey Art Organization

Thursday, April 26th, 6pm to 9pm come join this year’s talented artists for the opening reception of the 30th Annual Student Invitational. Every year Chaffey students submit proposals to a jury of faculty members for a chance to participate in the Student Invitational course. Only ten students are chosen to work with Program Coordinator and professor, Kathy Haddad, and Wignall Assistant Curator, Rebecca Trawick, to present a professional museum exhibit.

The students selected this year are Theodisa Aquino, Keith Ballard, Lemuel Barbour, Elise Castillo, David Delgado, Alejandro Hernandez, Bryce Johnson, Jena McRoberts, Brianna Sendziak, and Monique Villanueva. Students not only create their unique artwork, together they plan and advertise the entire exhibit, including installation of their pieces in the Wignall Gallery. Since many of these students plan on building careers in the fine arts, this experience is invaluable.

We were fortunate enough to speak with these artists about their experiences before the date of the opening reception.

David Delgado creates his ceramic sculptures with all-natural materials. His works resemble organic, cartoon-like electronic figures painted with his unique graffiti characters. Delgado enjoys working with ceramics and plans on furthering his education upon graduation from Chaffey College. Though the Student Invitational is his fist time organizing an exhibit, he will have three pieces on display at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) in Pomona this May.

The self-portraits of painter Elise Castillo are based on her own black and white photos. She uses colorization and close ups as a part of the process to illuminate her thoughts on light, contrast and color as well as her own self-image. Without a doubt, this small series of paintings brings a little something personal to the table, while some mystery yet remains.

The animation sequences of Theodisa Aquino are reminiscent of the flipbooks I remember growing up with. The duality of the sequences shown may compel you to think about everyday life in an entirely new manner. What do we consider sane and appropriate as apposed to erratic behavior to our daily routines? Here’s an opportunity to explore.

Bryce Johnson's conceptually oriented performance art is based on the reaction of strangers when they find themselves answering a short questionnaire. The questions mostly deal with census type information such as age or ethnicity; however in the end those questioned are confronted with judging the artists’ personal life based on the few moments you've known him. Bryce takes us all into his world for just a brief moment in time.

Photographer Brianna Sendziak’s work provides an introspective look into a close circle of family and friends. Her self portraits include moments of companionship and solitude throughout the series. In subtle detail, Brianna demonstrates the notion of personal space when placed in the context of the homes of people she associates with on a regular basis.

Lemuel Barbour's black and white photos are carefully arranged, allowing us to closely examine personal relationships within his family. The situational process seen here seems to develop more into a story as you randomly choose between photos to look at. The magnificent lighting used by Barbour directed in synch with the camera dramatize the events, as if the viewer has witnessed something moving.

Memories, secrets and private thoughts are what fuel the magnificent canvas structures sewn together by Monique Villanueva. They dangle above head as if a thought bubble in a comic strip. Without revealing much of one thought or idea at any time for any outsider to put the puzzle together, these pieces reveal the distinct intimacy of the art, as well as the process.

Alejandro Hernandez aimed for minimalism in his film work. His piece is highly conceptualized but simplified to create an experience unique to each viewer’s perceptions. Hernandez works in various medium, including photography and painting. He plans on continuing his education and building a career in the art community.

Jena McRoberts’ multi-media installation and performance piece recreates a secret garden. Although her piece is inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, McRoberts uses found objects and craft supplies to create a garden of her own inspiration for the story’s main character Mary Lennox. This is McRoberts’ first time creating a full-scale installation piece in an exhibit. She also runs a gallery of her own, OneLeaf “Fine Art” Gallery in downtown Pomona, which focuses on gender, social, and women’s issues and exhibits the artwork of students and emerging artists.

A segmented film which deals with dream states and distorted perception of vision and sound are the product of Keith Ballard. Seemingly unrelated video clips dealing with concepts from poetry to Easter are uniquely integrated along with an original soundtrack to produce this remarkably artistic film.

To learn more about the talented artists and inspirational artwork of the thirtieth Chaffey College Student Invitational make sure to attend the opening reception of the exhibit. Admission is free at the Wignall Museum, and the Gallery hours are as follows:

Monday-Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday 12pm-4pm
Sundays and Holidays CLOSED

Exhibition: April 23- May 26

Opening Reception:
Thursday, April 26, 6pm-9pm
Walk-through with the artists: 6:30pm

Wignall Location

A version of this article is featured in this week's edition of the student newspaper, The Breeze.

Picasso vs. Rembrandt

New Yorker, This article is about two similar paintings, Bathsheba (1654) by the sixteenth-century artist Rembrandt and Seated Nude and Another Figure (1963) by Picasso. It is possible that Picasso got the idea for his work from the description of Rembrandt’s painting in one of Rembrandt’s books.

Who was Rembrandt? According to the article, “no artist in the Western canon, not Raphael, not Michelangelo, not even Goya, has been so compulsively co-opted as heroic alter ego as Rembrandt... The luminous shimmer of paint, not the hard-edged purity of classical sculpture, was [the painter’s] lodestar, and no one, they thought, had liberated its radiance quite like Rembrandt.”

Hugh Mendes Exhibition

In this article I learned about an Artist by the name of Hugh Mendes who is an U.K based artist gaining popularity in the contemporary art world due mainly to his creative and original use of a combination of text, pictures and newspaper clippings, those which we tend to find so excessive and displays them as installations. His art focuses on memorials to art's ever present, changing history through his recognition to everyone from pop stars, artists and politicians. He is appreciated for not only his eclectic art style, but for his attempt at what appears to be, a preservation of history through painting and text.

The focus of this particular display is current news with focus on current events in all aspects, including Iraq. Mendes is noted as giving equal amounts of attention to everyone (including so called "nobodies" ) in his art work and obituary listings. His art will be displayed at Sartorial Contemporary Art in London April 18- May 5 2007.

-Gia Valdez

Dan Flavin: A Retrospective

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, May 13– August 12, 2007:

This is the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to minimalist artist Dan Flavin's full career....[T]he exhibition features more than forty of Flavin's seminal fluorescent light works. Also presented is a special reconstruction of the corridors made for the E.F. Hauserman Co. showroom, formerly located at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles. This will be the final destination of a multi-venue tour.

The Artist in Words

This is a recent video of artist Sylvia Sleigh speaking at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on her painting The Turkish Bath of 1973 (her gender-reversed version of Ingres' 1862 painting of the same name), which is included in the exhibition WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution.

The Claremont Museum of Art

Recently renovated and after two decades in the planning, the Claremont Museum of Art opened its doors on Sunday April 15, 2007 revealing paintings, sculptures and ceramics of local artists. Its inaugural exhibits will run through June 25, 2007 with a grand opening on May 5.

The restoration of the Packing House, which once held crates of lemons was only a dream back in 1987, when local residents proposed to build a gallery with only a small budget.

Several materials were salvaged and preserved to complete the transformation of this old building, like the distressed hickory wood floors, steel supports, and corrugated ceilings.

Currently on display is the exhibit A Conversation with Color: Karl Benjamin, Paintings 1953-1995. His abstract paintings are best described with bold colors like magenta and cobalt blue to golden yellows and bright greens, as well as geometric patterns.

In addition to the museum, several shops, art galleries, stores and entertainment continue joining the expansion of the Claremont Village.

Various artists' collections will be displayed on a rotating basis. Admission is free through May.

What Do Curators Want?

An Evening with Caryn Coleman

So, how do you approach curators and galleries without shooting yourself in the foot in the process? Caryn Coleman, owner of Culver City's highly-successful sixspace gallery and editor of art.blogging.la, will give you some practical advice on this topic at a free, public presentation on April 18th. This is an invaluable opportunity for artists to get some really useful information on a delicate subject that is rarely discussed in a casual, open forum like this. A light reception will precede and follow. This event is free and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Wednesday, April 18th from 7pm-9pm (doors open @ 6:30) at Armory Northwest, 965 North Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, 91103. Parking is free. For complete details, visit: http://www.sidestreet.org/services/

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I have a question for the Chaffey readers. As an art student, is this a type of event you would be interested in attending if it were to be held on your campus? - John

STUDENT INVITATIONAL 2007

30TH ANNUAL STUDENT INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION

Chaffey College and the Wignall Museum present the Student Invitational 2007 (SI07), an annual exhibition of work by students that have excelled in the art program. Participation in the exhibition and the honors class that accompanies it is competitive. The students are selected by a jury of full-time faculty from the Art, Photography, Ceramics, and Digital Media departments. In its 30th year, this annual exhibition reflects the creative professionalism and diversity of the visual arts program at Chaffey College.

The Student Invitational opens on Monday, April 23 and runs through Saturday, May 26, 2007. The opening reception will be on Thursday, April 26 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. The artists will give an artists’ talk and walk-through of the exhibition during the reception at 6:30 p.m. The exhibition, reception and artists’ talk are free and open to the public.

The students selected to participate in the exhibition create completely new bodies of work specifically for the exhibition. They also participate in this unique, honors seminar course where - with the support and assistance from the art faculty, gallery curators and staff - the students intensely explore their own artistic process. In addition, they also participate in many aspects of exhibition development and production. The impressive result is SI07 – an exhibition of exciting ad innovative artwork that engages the viewer at the intersection of personal obsession and social critique. The artists are: Theodisa Aquino, Keith Ballard, Lemuel Barbour, Elise Castillo, David Delgado, Alejandro Hernandez, Bryce Johnson, Jena McRoberts, Brianna Sendziak and Monique Villanueva.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Student Invitational Exhibition, the tradition of this event is older than most of the students themselves. I have witnessed at least a decade of this unique experience within the Chaffey visual arts program and have seen how the process gives each student an experience that often propels them to higher education in the Arts. It is evident to the instructors who mentor and nurture these students each year that what keeps the program interesting is the unpredictable dynamic of each year’s group. In this thirtieth year, the students have displayed an ability to be wildly whimsical and yet utterly serious when it counts. This group was able to collaborate smoothly on major decisions about this show and because of that their relationships have ballooned. Their work deals with family, culture, race, gender and physical experiences. Often the work is very tactile, visceral and sensual. Technology takes a major role this year, but at the same time, one of the students uses pure earth elements to mix his own clay. This group is extremely diverse in approaches and choices of medium. They are clearly aware of their remarkable differences in culture, race and gender and have incorporated that into their point of view. This show inevitably seems to generate artwork that is in tune with the world at large. Although often unsettling, sometimes full of fear, as well as, whimsical and celebratory the work gives us physical evidence of these students’ concerns, dreams and nightmares. It has been a pleasure and an inspiration to work with a group that is so self-motivated, directed and responsible for their ideas. I found myself saying that this is what teaching should be like. For them, the learning was effortless even though the work was very intense. - Kathy Haddad, Project Coordinator

The Wignall Museum/Gallery is located on the Chaffey College campus at 5885 Haven Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737-3002. Admission is free. Park in the North Parking Lot, permits can be purchased at vending machines for $2. Parking is free during museum receptions and special events. HOURS: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, noon-4:00 p.m. EVENT INFO: (909) 941-2702, www.chaffey.edu/wignallgallery

What is this?

Can somebody please tell me what this thing is? I understand that this is supposed to be contemporary and revolutionary, but to me this is not art. Art makes you feel a certain way and this makes me say "huh?!" After viewing the odd work of Andrea Zittel, I walked around L.A. and ran across an immigration protest. That was the art that I could understand. These people were standing up for something they believed in, waving flags and chanting together. This chair or whatever you want to call it, doesn't chant anything. Someone please enlighten me.

A Day of Art by Women

Each semester the Associated Students of Chaffey College charters a bus trip to a Los Angeles area art museum. The bus trip is free to all students of the college. Today we went to Little Tokyo for a day of art by women in three exhibitions: WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution and works from Andrea Zittel, both at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and also the sculptures of Ruth Asawa on view at the Japanese American National Museum. The weather was a bit gray, but it was still a nice day of great art, plus the excellent sushi and sake didn't hurt either. I've included a few photos of the day below (click to enlarge).

I also want to give a big thank you to Denise Johnson for generously meeting us at the Geffen and giving not one but THREE tours of the WACK! exhibition for the students. She is one dedicated and very knowledgeable feminist :)

Denise Johnson leads a tour of students through WACK!.

ASCC Senators Olivia, Brittney and Zack.


click here for more photos