This past Thursday, two shows celebrating the works of Brandeis' senior and post-baccalaureate students opened on campus. The openings, titled "New Work from Home and Abroad" mark the end to the art program's "Meet the Majors" night. These shows were special because the senior and post-bac students rarely have the chance to show their artwork on campus. For the most part, their work is done in an off-campus art studio, meaning that most of the student-made art seen on campus is done by underclassmen. According to Prof. Tory Fair (FA), who organized the event, the gallery showing was to "give a presence of senior and post-bac work"—and if tonight's show was anything to go by, students have been missing out on some thrilling works of art.

The senior work was shown in Goldman-Schwartz Art Center, which is also where the "Meet the Majors" event took place. The works were hung throughout the halls of Goldman-Schwartz, grouped by the artist and accompanied by each artist's biography and what inspired their works. Putting them up in the hall might sound unceremonious, but no one seemed to mind. All eyes were on what was hanging on the walls.

Taken as a whole, the senior show was very diverse. There were works that ranged from realistic figure paintings to more abstract installments, like the canvas covered in paint splatters and pierced by clusters of nails and the piece of bamboo in a wicker basket. On the other end of the spectrum were the human figure paintings by Stacy Ha '12, who had immersed herself in classical painting styles. There was also Kelsey Grab's '12 series of paintings, "Us and Nature," inspired by what she saw over the summer when she worked as an interior decorator in Bali. Most of the paintings were inspired by the island's stunning natural scenery; however, the beauty of much of the scenery is being destroyed to make way for construction projects focussed on building infrastructure for tourism. The paintings mourn the loss of these natural areas while also celebrating what is still there. The paintings use vibrant colors to play up the island's natural beauty. Grab included photographs of some areas that inspired her, and the most remarkable thing about them is that, no matter how colorful the paintings are, the actual landscapes are equally vibrant.

Every piece at the show was notable; each work was unique, each came from a personal place and each fully deserved its spot in the showing. The same goes for the post-bac works. As the night went on, people began migrating away from Goldman and toward the Drietzer Gallery in the Spingold Theater, where the post-bac works were on display. These were just as well done as what was featured at the senior showing, but were, if anything, a bit bolder. After all, the senior showing didn't feature gigantic, wire-frame letters spelling out "HIV," with the "I" covered in mesh and dripping fake blood. This work was made by Robert Fitzgerald PB after his time with the Peace Corps in Kenya, where he witnessed the ravages of HIV firsthand.

Like the senior works, post-bac art is rarely seen on campus, and for the most part, the post-bac students seem to have even less of a presence. Almost all of their work is done off campus, and the program itself lasts only 1 or 2 years; despite how incredible it is, many undergrads are not going to see this artwork.

There was political art like Fitzgerald's work; whimsical landscapes that included rainbows, unicorns, castles and giant fish skeletons; a giant painting of a Mesoamerican woman, coupled with pastoral scenes that looked like something made by one of the Mexican muralists; and a series of three small, dark pastel and charcoal drawings that simultaneously evoked feelings of dread and a strange bit of hope.

Other standouts were a series of small square paintings, each of which had a counterpart, by Adam Sultan, who referred to the paintings as "Grids," as well as two paintings by Kelsey Lloyd. Lloyd's "Soft" gives off a Latin American feel despite being based on a food stand at Coney Island, and a painting that used cut-out pictures of a housewife and porcelain deer for an enjoyable, if somewhat surreal, effect.

Like the senior show, the attention given to those few works doesn't take away from how powerful everything else was. In both showings, the art was the product of everything these students have learned over the years and the hours of work that went into their creations. Both exhibits showcased how talented these students are, and if anything, made a great case for more frequent displays of student art.