A gallery of work by twelve Northeastern artists
Picture this: Breathtaking displays of creative verve and skill. Artists who run the gamut from students, to faculty, to alums of all ages. Media that range from oil paints, to digital images, to junkyard parts.
Now, keep your eyes open, and hold on tight.
It’s going to be a very cool ride.
1909 HD
Mixed-media sculpture made from found objects, including baby-carriage wheels, old stove parts, ice tongs, plumbing materials, shoe horn, and Electrolux vacuum (for the sidecar)
L 32” x W 20” x H 17”
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Michael Ulman, AS’00
Roslindale, Massachusetts
“I’m obsessed with motorcycles. I made this bike to resemble a forgotten time, as though it were an unfinished project put away for later.”
Most influential artist
“Most often I am influenced by the art, so I tend to remember an image, not a name. Creativeness inspires me.”
Near Pullman, Washington
Color photograph
8” x 10”
A 30’ x 42’ enlargement of the photo appears on the front facade of Meserve Hall (see front cover).
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Neal Rantoul
Professor and chair of photography
Department of Art + Design
“I came over a rise in the late afternoon in late July and was hit by these dark clouds, but with the sun beaming down on the yellow wheat. It would surely rain soon.
“But I had to try to capture what was in front of me; it was too good. So I stopped the car, yanked my camera out, pulled out the tripod from the trunk, mounted the camera on the tripod, opened the camera, mounted the lens, opened the shutter, extended the bellows on the camera, leveled the camera, got under the dark cloth, and focused the camera. Then I light-metered the scene, closed the lens, set the aperture and shutter speed, loaded a film holder in the back of the camera, cocked the shutter, pulled out the dark slide and waited for the camera to stop shaking, and tripped the shutter. I remember thinking that it was amazing the light had stayed so strong for so long.
“Then I packed up all the gear and headed for Pullman.
Most influential artists
“Photographers who were strongly influential to me were two teachers, Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. Also, Frederick Sommer.”
Bonfire: Study #16
C-print mounted on aluminum
6’ x 8’
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Vanessa Tropeano, AS’04
Lexington, Massachusetts
“My work deals with memory and history—how memory is informed by history and how history is constructed by memory. This photograph is part of the ongoing series Myths and Histories/Myths or Histories, which is an investigation of family through storytelling.”
Most influential artist
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Dune Diagonal
Black-and-white photograph
Digital print from a 2 1/4 negative
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Kay Canavino, LA’70
Adams, Massachusetts
“I have been photographing landscapes at night for a number of years now. This photograph was part of a series I made at an artist residency in Provincetown; I lived for a month in a dune shack at the Cape Cod National Seashore.
“I use a technique called light painting. I place the camera on a tripod, open the lens, then I run around in the dark with a large flashlight applying light in the areas I choose to illuminate, leaving the other areas in the dark.”
Most influential artist
“Paul Strand. I am moved by the quiet strength and apparent simplicity of his work.”
The Force
Charcoal drawings
Series of 4’ x 8’ portraits
Five images from The Force are displayed on the exterior wall of the Cabot Physical Education Center overlooking Cabot Court.
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Mira Cantor
Professor
Department of Art + Design
“I was interested in seeing beyond the uniforms of the people who serve us, particularly the police, who are looked at stereotypically. They really are individuals who go home to families and have lives outside the force. I also wanted to recognize police officers and commemorate them as part of our community.
“I started off working with the university police. Then I decided I would incorporate Boston police. I’d like to do it in different cities, and maybe in different countries.
“The police officers either pose for me—they come in with their uniform, gun, and hat—or I work from a photograph. It’s been interesting sociologically, because when they come in they talk about their lives and their families, and what it means to be in law enforcement.”
Most influential artists
“When I started my career, it was people like Willem de Kooning and the German expressionists. People who drew the figure. I was always a figure artist. Later, I became more abstract in my painting.”
Rafael, age 24
Black-and-white photograph, toned brown
5” x 7”
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Robert Kalman, LA’70
New York, New York
“We were making portraits of people attending a street fair on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was part of a book project of formal street portraits using a large-format camera.
“This New York City police patrolman had positioned himself on the sidewalk, unconsciously juxtaposing himself with the painting on the wall behind him. We introduced ourselves, explained what we were doing, and he agreed to let us make his portrait.
“It was only his second week on the job, a rookie. That’s probably why he consented.”
Most influential artist
“I studied with the ‘father’ of environmental portraiture, the late Arnold Newman. He taught me, ‘We’re all afraid. Press through it, and make the picture anyway.’”
Poised
Oil on canvas
46” x 59”
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Gregory Eltringham, AS’88
Savannah, Georgia
“This painting is based on the Icarus theme. It fits into the body of work I was doing that addressed the current climate of fear and anxiety. It shows individuals training for an impending event, finding a sense of security through a useless gesture.”
Most influential artists
“I taught art survey and appreciation for fourteen years, so I have a variety of artistic influences. Some contemporary artists include Gerhard Richter, Juan Davila, John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage, and Bruce Nauman. Older painters: Caravaggio, Velásquez, Manet, Bellows, and Balthus.”
Eternity
Digital art using stock images
The bird image in Eternity is one of several student pieces currently on display in the windows of West Village H, facing Huntington Avenue.
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Jesse Silverberg
Senior, majoring in physics, math, and philosophy
Duxbury, Massachusetts
“This is a completely digital work, composed of digitally manipulated photos and a painting technique available through Photoshop.
“Our thoughts usually come in words, in a linear fashion, where one word follows the next. I find that sort of thinking rather restrictive. When you think that way, there are certain ideas that cannot be fully expressed. This piece is representative of my whole portfolio; I don’t have particular thoughts or words that go with it. It came from how I was feeling at the time.”
Most influential artists
“H. R. Geiger, who designed the alien for the Alien movies. And David Ho, another digital artist who does much of his work in Photoshop.”
Seagull
Color photograph
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Anisha Grover
Junior, majoring in pharmacy
Audubon, Pennsylvania
“I started out as an architecture major, then switched back to the sciences. But photography is a big hobby of mine; I take lots of pictures.
“I was traveling with my family on Cape Cod, and we were on the ferry, and there were seagulls everywhere. I thought they’d make good pictures. It wasn’t a planned thing.
“Later, I did a pencil drawing of the picture. That’s actually why I took the picture—so I could draw it.”
Most influential artists
“Monet, Manet, and the impressionists in general. The impressionists did a really good job of not only representing what they were painting but capturing a lot of their own personality in their work. And the paintings have a lot of color.”
Boxes
Latex paint on cut paper
46” x 72”
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Matt Rich
Lecturer
Department of Art + Design
“Boxes is part of a larger group of painted and cut paper pieces. This work treats paint not as a rarefied tool for depicting with virtuosic brushstrokes and effects but, rather, a literal material with weight, elasticity, and other properties more associated with sculptural materials and three-dimensional space.
“The work seeks to make entirely visible what it is. As corners wrinkle, borders align, and seams push away, the viewer sees images and structure simultaneously. The work de-emphasizes the sort of specialty language associated with art, making the informal formal.”
Most influential artist
“For the past forty years, Richard Tuttle has used a variety of materials to construct wall-based collages. His engaging and serious use of everyday and found materials and cast shadow has been the inspiration for my work over the past five years.”
Abstract No. 6
Digitally manipulated color photograph
Abstract No. 6 is one of several student pieces currently on display in the windows of West Village H, facing Huntington Avenue.
Hu Trang, CIS’08
Cranston, Rhode Island
“I was passing by a window near the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy that had these big yellow stickers. I thought about my principles of design course, taught by John Kane, where we did a lot of dot and line studies, to learn about ‘static versus dynamic.’ So I took the picture, then played around with the filters and color levels.”
Most influential artist
“One graphic artist I admire is M. C. Escher, because of how he can manipulate and transform his subjects into beautiful abstractions and perspectives.”
Dot Matrix
Architectural installation
Series of 10’ x 10’ screens made of anodized aluminum, colored acrylic, and polished stainless steel
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Ed Andrews
Associate professor and interim chair
Department of Art + Design
“I made these screens for the Green Street Parking Facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2004, when it was undergoing renovation. When they renovate in Cambridge, they usually commission artwork as part of the redesign. This piece was chosen through a juried competition organized by the Cambridge Arts Council.
“The screens cover open sections on the landings for one of the staircases. The staircases used to have boring steel handrails. But they were no longer up to code, and they were also really ugly. So I cut those out and put the screens in.
“The screens have a stair-stepping pattern, which is relative to the function of a stairwell. They’re designed to do two different things. In daytime, they act like stained-glass windows; all of the color comes into the structure from the sun. At night, the lights for the stairwell come on, and the screens become illuminated from the inside, like a lamp. Also, if you look at a screen from the corner, it looks solid. But as you move around it, it opens up, like blinds.”
Most influential artists
“I couldn’t talk about this piece and not mention Piet Mondrian. There is a similarity between the piece and his paintings. I’m also very inspired by kinetic art, such as that of Alexander Calder, and by people who do grand projects, like Christo.”