From now until basically the end of the school year, the Flaten Art Museum is host to the Senior Studio Art Show. This capstone display features works from all of the graduating studio art majors, who curated selections of their work to be displayed in the Center for Art and Dance (CAD).
The display is not only confined to the inside of the Flaten Art Museum. The senior show also extends into the Groot Gallery, and a kite-inspired installation by Bess Clement ’18 hangs across the ceiling of the space between. There is also a continuation of the the showcase downstairs in the lower level of CAD.
Unlike many other Flaten Art Museum shows – which usually center around a theme, such as Meg Ojala’s recent exhibition on art inspired by bogs and fens – the Senior Show is as diverse in content, themes and styles as the artists themselves. For example, Jon Pfeifer ’18 created illustrations that depict people in awkward situations as cartoonish monsters, to reflect the humility of those kinds of moments. Mary Koehler ’18 constructed an ornate, circular, three-dimensional frame that zeroes in on a sketch notebook. Alex Madsen ’18 built a vaguely transparent room out of wood and plastic. And these are just a few of the works on display right now.
There are also paintings that celebrate femininity, undoctored photographs promoting the beauty of racial diversity, ceramics that represent nostalgia for one’s upbringing and so many other wonderful displays.
The Senior Studio Art Show will continue to be on display in the Flaten Art Museum, the Groot Gallery and the lower level of CAD until May 28. Admission is, of course, free as always.
mayo1@stolaf.edu
