Dowd Building Gallery launches “Creating & Collecting: New Faculty Work and Collection Acquisitions for the de Saisset Museum”
Etchings of modern politicians clad in colonial attire. Angular sculptures covered in little heads. Photographs of gold-capped teeth. With a greater focus on the arts at Santa Clara University, pieces like those on display at the new Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building highlight the expanding and diverse range of art on campus.
Currently breaking in the Dowd’s new gallery is “Creating & Collecting: New Faculty Work and Collection Acquisitions for the de Saisset Museum,” which will be open to the public during the Community Celebration to the Arts on October 22 and remain in place in the following weeks.
As the name suggests, the exhibit dedicates half the show to display the abilities of the SCU art faculty. These pieces, as professor Takeshi Moro explained in a panel on the show, highlight “the breadth and depth of the faculty work.”
The art ranges from the traditional, with a landscape oil painting by Ryan Reynolds, to the quirky, with a ceramic robot by Don Fritz and a colorful acrylic cutout painting by Kelly Detweiler. Other faculty pieces include those of Kathy Aoki, Amir Attia, Renee Billingslea, Ryan Carrington, Julie Hughes, Pancho Jimenez, and Takeshi Moro.
Aoki’s pieces, which were recently on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, prove especially pertinent with their jabs at the current political election. These illustrations update prints reminiscent of the Revolutionary era with more modern faces – in one image, George Washington breaks up a fight between Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.
In addition, the Dowd’s show includes several acquired pieces for the de Saisset Museum. Purchased through acquisitions projects developed by art history students, these pieces feature art from marginalized ethnic and racial groups including Native American, African American, and Asian American artists as well as women of a variety of backgrounds.
“Creating and Collecting” will be on full display for the public to visit during the upcoming arts Community Celebration on October 22. Through various performances and activities, the festival will highlight the forms of creative expression around campus, emphasizing the university’s commitment to the arts.