During the first two weeks in February, the Dreitzer Gallery in Spingold Theater exhibited an impressive assortment of abstract paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures. When one learns that this eclectic display was actually the Brandeis Student Winter Show, produced by the beginner and intermediate studio arts classes, the exhibition becomes even more exceptional. Each piece showed deep insight into its theme and a profound perception of material form unexpected from novice artists. The only disappointment was that the works in the show were unlabeled, depriving the artists of the extensive praise they deserved. No two pieces, even those within a series, were alike. each piece in the show highlighted the unique, creative perspective of each artist. One wall, for example, displayed small-scale portraits that appeared to be a class assignment. Yet the 19 paintings were as stylistically diverse as Raphael and Rothko, as the portraits ranged from more realistic portrayals to extreme abstractions. Some artists chose to paint their faces through patchworks of bright colors in the fauvist manner of Matisse. Others chose the elongated, mask-like approach of Modigliani.

It was amusing to be able to identify portraits of peers, but it even more interesting to see how each interpreted his or her own face in the work.
Another artist illustrated a day in the life of an anonymous woman through a series of small paintings. While the concept for the series was innovative by itself, the painter alternated the woman's appearance in each piece depending on the setting and mood the particular scene called for. For example, the woman was portrayed in a fairly straightforward, clearly outlined fashion walking through her apartment hall, but became blurred and hazy amid harsh stage lights when depicted in a theater. Through altering the painting application and portrayal of brightness within the works, the artist gave new meaning to the clich of seeing a person in a new light.

Meanwhile, the numerous abstract large scale paintings in the Winter Show consisted of mostly home interior or still-life scenes. The bright, bold colors and collage-like compositions of these works radiated with a sense of energy that gave the Winter Shows a real positive atmosphere. One particularly wonderful room with a deep royal purple couch and exotically painted tree also included several circular swirled lamps descending from the ceiling and protruding from wallpaper, making the living area even more stimulating.

Other painters strayed away from the mainstream, choosing to portray more intense, introspective topics. One artist portrayed a mummified figure standing in a bathtub within a dimly lit room. The painter cleverly integrated the color composition of the work to make it seem like the mummy was melting into the tub.

Though the scene was probably supposed to invoke either feelings of fear or despair, the originality of the work actually made the painting one of the more comical pieces in the exhibition. The only large-scale portrait piece stood out as one of the Winter Show's more memorable pieces. Painting the entire canvas pitch-black, the artist used iridescent, neon colors to create the lines of her face in the self-portrait, giving her work a hauntingly, spiritual quality with an amazing luminescence.
The sculptural works in the Winter Show were just as memorable as their canvas counterparts. The pieces, ranging from a bushy cluster of eyeballs to a bubblegum colored cellophane mobile, defined the ideas of imagination and thinking outside the box.

The sculptures also employed quite an unusual assortment of materials. One dress, for example, was made from rope and copper wire while another was created out of tire wheels and nails. A free-standing "S" shaped sculptured actually looked like the most conservative work in the gallery until the glass bottles hanging like tails off the tips of the letter came into view. The artists, in addition, were clearly adept at manipulating their materials. One sculptor fashioned a piece of stiff metal into a spiral shape that looked as if it were impossible to have achieved. Though no two sculptures employed the same medium or representation, the works were all linked in their attempt to address the concepts of balance and impermanence in art and the world beyond.

Nature, however, was the most popular theme to be depicted through all media in the Winter Show. A particularly poignant print spoke to feelings of loneliness and solitude as a single lighthouse shone out of a seemingly endless ocean. Another sculptor used wire to create a forest setting of a young fawn standing beside a newly planted tree. Whether just an adorable scene or an artistic metaphor for the delicate and impressionable state of youth, the piece vividly expressed the connection between art and the purity of nature.

A painter devoted a whole series of large and small scale works to exploring the impact the changing seasons had on the light and color of nature. One petite, heavily painted work depicted a close up of a tree base while another larger piece used glowing, golden tones to illustrate the leaves changing in fall.

The Winter Show was a breath of fresh air during the bleak, dreary New England winter days. Walking past the large, colorful canvases and captivating sculptures made looking at the art a purely fun experience. The exhibition far exceeded all expectations and should be displayed in a more prominent location next year. Brandeis is fortunate to host a rich, creative art community, from the world-class collections of the Rose Art Museum to the blossoming trendsetters of tomorrow in our studio classes.