Craft of the mentors

Instructors from the Visual Arts department showcased some of their work at the opening of the Faculty Art Exhibition last Tuesday in the gallery at Rusteberg Hall on the Brownsville campus.

The exhibition included the works of eight faculty members, and a painting by the late professor Carlos G. Gómez. The faculty members who participated in the exhibition were Lecturers Alejandro Macias, Noel Palmenez, Ruth Keitz, Felix Trejo, Stephen Hawks, Julian Rodriguez and Patrick Fatica.

Macias said that although every year the department hosts this exhibition, this year’s would be different.

“Our painting instructor [Carlos G. Gómez], who had served the university for 30 years … passed away early this semester,” the lecturer said. “He devoted so much of his life to students, and to this school. He was larger than life.”

As part of the exhibit, “Nocturnal Duet,” a work by Gómez, was displayed. The abstract oil-on-canvas painting depicts a tree flanked by a set of two circles composed of multicolored rings.

Attended by more than 40 people, the event did not follow a theme, but rather the artists presented their individual style.

“It’s just a mixture of artists,” Macias said. “Each artist tends to have their own theme.”

Hawks explained the importance of art and the exhibition.

“I like doing art, I see it as a necessary thing,” he said. “[It’s] not just sort of [decoration], something added on to life.”

Hawks expects his work to lead his students to become curious about his work, which, in turn, will make them think and start generating ideas of their own.

“By producing work myself, that is at a certain level, sets an expectation for them,” he said.

Hawks’ work presented in the exhibit is part of an ongoing series, titled “Chymical Wedding.” The three-vertically elongated organic shaped sculptures are painted red, yellow and black. They represent will, thought and feeling, and the interrelationship between them.

Most of the attendees were art majors seeking to learn something from the work made by their instructors.

Fine arts freshman Christopher Martinez attended the opening in an effort to learn new techniques that he could apply to his work.

“It’s one of the best ones I’ve seen so far,” Martinez said. “It’s amazing that it’s from some of our instructors here at the university.”

The purpose of the exhibit was to showcase university talent.

The exhibit continues through March 25. Admission is $1 and student semester passes are $3. For more information, call the Patron of the Arts at 882-7025.