With the support of retail developer EDENS, there's an exciting new art exhibit in Wellesley Square.
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| Richard Schwartz, Visual Arts Faculty, curated the student exhibit. |
SCULPTURE
Students in sculpture have been using wood as the primary material for
creating artwork this semester at Walnut Hill. This recent assignment asked
students to create a “bird” using only broken fir/spruce strips, which were
glued into place. A simple paper and tape structure was used as the “core” for
support on these sculptures. This technique (without precise measuring) forced
students to work in a more intuitive manner, making many decisions about their
work and forms. The surface variety and scale differences of these pieces are
really impressive. Additionally, some students used a thinned tempera paint
wash to add color, while still retaining the natural quality of the wood. It is great to see some of the work displayed
in Wellesley and share with the larger community!
Richard
Schwartz, Visual
Art Department, Walnut
Hill School for the Arts
ACTION PAINTING or GESTURAL
ABSTRACTION
These student paintings are the result of an assignment based on the Action Painting or Gestural Abstraction, and Abstract Expressionist movements in American painting of the 1940's through the 1960's. It is a style of painting that is spontaneously dribbled, splashed, or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical act of painting itself as an essential aspect of the finished work or concern of the artist. Some of the more well known artists that expressed themselves through these methods were Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning.
The art critic Harold Rosenberg described the importance of this painting style as "the physical manifestation, a kind of residue, of the actual work of art, which was the act or process of the paintings’ creation". Personally, I like Clement Greenberg's description: "It is the paintings’ clotted and oil caked surfaces that are the key to understanding them as documents of the artist's existential struggle".
Whichever you prefer, I think these student explorations of this school of painting are vibrant, energetic, and just fascinating to view. Thanks for looking!
Ken Tighe,Visual
Art Department,Walnut Hill School for the Arts
Located
in Natick, MA, Walnut Hill School for the Arts offers a powerful
combination of academic rigor and artistic excellence. The School allows
talented high school students to advance their training in ballet,
music, theater, visual art, or creative writing, while engaging in
challenging college-preparatory curriculum. This integrated approach
creates a high-performing culture that prepares students for success as
they matriculate to some of the world's best colleges and
conservatories. Walnut Hill is proud to collaborate with the Wellesley
Community Art Project to share their Visual Artists' work with the
greater community.
For more information on the School and upcoming events visit www.walnuthillarts.org
Save the date for Walnut Hill's Spring Visual Art Show on May 29, 5pm
