Armando Montano
The Paw Print
The Hatfield Gallery here at Adams State College is currently showing a student-based gallery entitled “Caught in the Act,” allowing for some of the talented students here at ASC to come together and showcase their interpretation of that exact phrase.
The gallery is meant to demonstrate the human and somewhat inhuman events, emotions and actions of persons who are literally caught doing something in a single moment; this action can be translated into many different experiences and works to expose the beauty, horror and brilliance of the human condition with virtually no regulation. The scenes displayed by the artists in the gallery show the varying and translatable degrees in which privacy exploited can have in one’s own identity and image others have of us.
Many of the students who turned out for the gallery’s creation are students currently enrolled in ASC Art program courses and are exhibiting their talents and interpretations in the classic mediums. Paintings and sculpture are used by the various entries to captivate the vividness of the concept and invites the viewer to connect with the piece on an independent and personal level. From the audience perspective, the gallery’s wide range in subject matter and content is greatly pronounced upon entrance and while it can seem hostile in parts or uninviting depending on the piece, the entire gallery as a whole does give the viewer a special chance to interpreted the works to their discretion as a honest look at the secrets one can have.
Multiple viewings of the gallery may be in order for the subtle levels of context within each work to permeate into the consciousness of the viewer. Several viewers of the “Caught in the Act” gallery have stated that the works they passed by on initial viewings are the ones they now gravitate towards for their strong connotations to the human spirit and the deeds a human can get caught up in. It is encouraged greatly for all of those who have seen the gallery to return and invest some time into revisiting the pieces, as well as having those who have never seen the gallery to come in for several views. In context, the hopes of a gallery of this sort must ultimately be to encourage the better humanist qualities; evaluating the means and motives of the pieces’ subject matters not as a dirty or secret deed but the multiple applications humans can apply their very frail spirit in whatever means they must.
The Gallery is open to the public and encourages everyone on campus and in the local community to attend. While not widely considered appropriate for all ages, the spectrum of patrons that have seen all the works in the “Caught in the Act” gallery do attest to it being applicable to everyone.
For more information on the “Caught in the Act” Gallery or other galleries, classes or events orchestrated by the ASC Art program, please call the Adams State Art Department at 719-587-7823.
What’s Been Said…