A textbook of creative thought: STC faculty artists come together to present excellent exhibition

This exhibit has a lot to say!

On display in the STC Art gallery, the Art Faculty Exhibition features new works by 19 South Texas College artists and provides engaging epiphanies about visual thinking.

This is a completely different show from the recent Beyond the Studio exhibit at the UTRGV Clark Gallery in Edinburg that featured core STC art faculty. This show combines works by both permanent and adjunct faculty, brimming with ways and reasons of giving visual voice to the creative mind.

With a fascinating range of imagination stimulators, there are works here that consider the feelings of the viewer as well as the artist, works that reach into the psychology of canine thinking, sculptures that address reverse-colonization, and landscapes that pull us into their vistas. There are works springboarding off other art works, works exploring artistic stylization, and some that reflect a love of basic art and design elements and give us updates with fresh expressions. Images that speak of the love between the artist and the process of making are woven throughout the gallery space.

Creating a focal point for the installation of this show, Luis Corpus combined styles with his “Eppur Si Muove,” an oil and fabric work, that reverberates with dimensional illusion. The realistic depiction of a woman’s head and shoulder contrasts with the flat bold geometric shapes that support her image, while a diagonal of patterned fabric adds dynamic indecision.

Tom Mathews takes representation and geometry into full 3-D. His “Untitled- First Iteration” wall sculpture initially speaks of a minimalist approach with equally repeated shelving, but each shelf holds two antiquated milk bottle shapes, which brings nostalgia into play. Or is it just a formal contrast between geometric and representational shapes? And what’s the next iteration going to be?

Alexis Ramos presented showstoppers with three sculptural works. In a significant act of reverse-colonization, she converted the standard break-glass-for-emergency box into her “Break Glass for Milagros” mixed media sculpture. While the American fire extinguisher box offers material help, Ramos’ Virgencita, from a similar containment, offers spiritual assistance through miracles. Appropriately, the hammer for breaking the glass is replaced by a cross. Her “Cures and Curitas” and “Mexican Style Button Box” also deserve attention.

Crosses also appear in the monumental 40”x 60” photograph “Tres Cruces” by Carlos Limas. Theis breathtaking image transports us into a timeless culture far to the south, where Christian beliefs merge with an ancient past. The crosses, embellished with symbols of Christ, rise triumphantly from pyramidal bases. Turbulent skies behind them, a local woman proudly stands with her alpaca.

While Limas’ alpaca stays by its owner, “Flying Dog over McAllen” by Lourdes Garcia had other plans and seems positively expectant. Eduardo Garcia takes us deep into an animal’s mental state with “Goya’s Dog.” Garcia referenced Goya in a very unusual way; the terrified dog is trying to keep a low profile through sensing the horrors of mankind that his master observed.

Scott Nicol’s “untitled’ signature encaustics are documents of aesthetic beauty where shape and line become euphoric. Pedro Perez demonstrates art appropriation with works touching on the Blue Period and Chicano styles, and Rachael Brown’s papel picados just want you to feel good.

This is an excellent exhibition. Take time to see it!

Nancy Moyer, Professor Emerita, is an art critic for The Monitor. She may be reached at [email protected].