Faculty art gallery at IU Art Museum powers up

New technology is being developed every day, but faculty from the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts only come together to display their technology-inspired work once every three years.

The Triennial 2010 exhibition of works by 42 faculty members opens today in the IU Art Museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery. While the exhibition certainly has its fair share of traditional art, the use of modern technology is evident in many of Triennial’s contemporary creations.

“It’s an opportunity on their ‘home turf’ (for the faculty) to try out new ideas,” said Nan Brewer, the curator for the Triennial.

Brewer said there are five pieces in the exhibition that utilize electronics – mainly video or sound – as a component of their presentation.

However, technology played a role in the actual creation of countless other works in the exhibition.

One such piece is a self-portrait by Kevin O. Mooney, an adjunct professor in the department of photography.

Mooney used Photoshop to create four different pixilated versions of an image he took of himself, and then layered them on top of each other, creating an abstract piece.

“I’m getting to the root of what the image is on a technical level (with the pixels),” Mooney said, “but I also want to challenge the viewer to really look at the image. It’s like when you meet someone for the first time – you open a dialogue to get to know them.”

The exhibit’s largest piece, an imposing kinetic sculpture by Wendy Calman, an associate professor in the printmaking department, uses sound technology in its presentation.

“Technology is a huge part,” Mooney said. “I could (make my piece) in a conventional way in printmaking, by actually drawing the pixels, but I’m not a printmaker.”

Brewer said technology is part of an “increasing arsenal of materials available to artists.”

“It’s just another tool,” she said.

Dolan Cleverley, an adjunct professor in the department of sculpture, has a piece titled “la blanca.” in the exhibition.

The sculpture is a series of diamonds, on top of which the words “this is the last of the petty pictures left in me” are written.

“It speaks to a larger group about pettiness,” Cleverley said, adding that “the work has a subliminally in-your-face component.”

This component also applies to his use of technology.

Although the piece – which is made out of wood, metal and paint – appears to be traditional in form, Cleverley actually used the computer quite a bit in the creation of the piece, particularly in the initial stages.

“(The technology) may not be evident in the piece, but it was just as important in the process,” he said.

While technology certainly is prevalent in the exhibition both overtly and candidly, the more traditional artistic mainstays are still around.

“There are some people who are devoted to more traditional forms,” Brewer said. “Oil painting hasn’t disappeared.”

There are 10 different types of media represented in the show, including digital art, wood and ceramics.

“The real theme is variety,” Brewer said.