The Rose Art Museum's three latest exhibitions opened to rave reviews Wednesday as approximately 450 faculty, students, and members of the Brandeis community joined to celebrate the beginning of the museum's fall season. Director Joseph Ketner stated that the Rose's aim this season was to embrace the museum's own historical, modern collection while simultaneously embracing newer styles and forms of more current and groundbreaking contemporary art. With its massive, colorfully vibrant pieces expanding in all directions, "Painting4," shown in the Lois Foster Wing, is clearly the standout at the Rose this fall. Painting4 features works by four very different, internationally known artists united by their unique interpretations of space and material as well as their extraordinary ability to think creatively. Featuring the work of Jimmy O'Neal, Michael Lin, Ingrid Calame and Katharina Grosse, "Painting4" addresses the notion that contemporary painting does not need to be limited by an easel or palette of oil paints.

O'Neal of Asheville, N.C. embraces this philosophy in his piece "In Karrezza Noemata," which encircles the entire room top to bottom. Experiencing "In Karrezza Noemata" is comparable to the sensation of walking inside a mirror. O'Neal's piece, made from panels sprayed with reflective paint, allows viewers to see themselves within the work. O'Neal even creates in one panel an upside down outline of a devil using dead flies trapped in dots of reflective paint.

O'Neal also explained that many of the panels were "bio-feed works", which were created by having a machine paint the patterns of his brainwaves. O'Neal produced one bio-feed piece by recording his own brain activity while he viewed all of his other panels. This work was then placed on a giant swamp boat in the center of the exhibition room. Small video monitors show O'Neal taking this particular panel on the swamp down the river, the passing scenery reflected in the reflective paint of the bio-feed piece.

Michael Lin of Tokyo made his untitled piece a hands-on experience. Viewers were encouraged to run, jump, and even lie down on the exoterically colored wooden floor and seven flowered pillows that comprise Lin's work. Excited screams filled the room where Lin's piece was displayed as children made towers with the pillows and fathers twirled their daughters on the pink and orange floral surface that spanned the entire room.

Ingrid Calame's bright green, "Secular Response 2A.R.", could not be contained by the walls of museum. Calame, from Los Angeles, explained that the abstract, green work on display in the Rose is actually part of a larger piece extending over 15,000 square feet. In fact, "Secular Response 2A.R." was actually created in 2001 on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The swirling spring green bursts of color, which Calame feels symbolize rejuvenation and growth, are actually based on the location of furniture on the NYSE floor.

Rose Art Museum Director of Education Stephanie Molinard remarked with excitement that "Painting4" really demonstrates the Lois Foster Wing's unique special capacity that gives artists a beautiful opportunity to create. This is seen in Katharina Grosse's untitled spray-paint work, painted on the exterior wall of the Lois Foster Wing. The German's colorful work, visible through the glass walls of the museum, will provide students going to art classes in Pollack or Goldman-Schwatrz with a cheerful picture in months to come, especially in the long, gray and often dreary winter months. The artificial sunshine these painting bring will be a welcome break from the ever-depressing cold. Brandeis students at the Rose opening were already blown away by "Painting4." "It transcends the bounds of what people normally perceive as art," commented Rachel Present '06.

The second show, "Bad Touch," examines the nature of non-academic drawing and provocative humor in art. at the Rose, "Bad Touch" opened after previously having been exhibited in Philadelphia, Chicago and London. Featuring over 100 works by local, national and international artists, "Bad Touch" displays drawing in its most expressive form in that the works reflect the artist's style without any premeditation or compositional planning. The word "bad" in the context of this exhibition refers to how the pieces in the show are carelessly crafted or put together hastily. Indeed, most of the drawings appear very rough in form and childish in subject matter and technique. It is an interesting dichotomy, wherein these child-like works - revolutionized in the mid-20th century by Jackson Pollock - are often some of the hardest pieces to create. One work, entitled "Yellow Corn-Fed Midwestern Cowboy", looked like it could have been a rip-off of an Urban Outfitters T-shirt. The drawings were also hung around the gallery in a disorderly, hasty manner as if they were posters in Usdan rather than a costly art exhibition that has traveled around the world. The disorderly arrangement of the pictures served to further emphasize the exhibit's theme.

The third show, "Abstract Expressionism: The Brandeis University Art Collection," explores the development of painting since World War II while showcasing the forceful, impulsive nature of contemporary painting. Featuring works by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Adolph Gottlieb, John Graham and Jackson Pollack, the works in the exhibition vary extremely in terms of size, color, and composition, ranging from moderate drip paintings to massive acrylic canvases. Besides highlighting the diverse interpretations of abstract expressionist painting, the exhibition also brings to light the wonderful and prominent collection of art the Rose has acquired. After seeing the exhibitions, Barney Breen-Portnoy '07 commented, "It (the Rose Art Museum) is a premier facility. The Rose adds culture to the student life of Brandeis." Brandeis is very fortunate to have such a premier facility on its campus.

Though the three exhibitions differ in their style and content, each captures the trend of creative freedom and spontaneity found throughout the contemporary art world today. Students also reacted extremely enthusiastically toward the Rose's fall exhibitions and appeared to really enjoy the museum's opening gala. Kai Kadoich '06 commented, "It makes me feel a lot less bourgeois when I can come to the Rose and share this experience with my community."

The Rose Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Museum's three Fall exhibitions will be on display until Dec. 7.