Artifacts 2013

13 November 2013John Luna, Photos by Danielle dW

Welcome to “Artifacts”, Brentwood’s first exhibition of the 2013-14 academic year in the Centre for Art and Humanities. The title, “Artifacts” was chosen to reflect the nature of the projects included in the exhibition. Ms. Mannion’s Drawing and Painting classes (Killy Studio) have completed a rigorous course of observational drawing, based on the tradition of still-life studies. While still-life studies have, for centuries, been used as a way for artists to develop attention to detail and painstaking rendering skills, they also bridge the gap between art and life, object and action, as demonstrated by the varied and expressive renderings Ms. Mannion’s students have made of their shoes (an especially appropriate subject given that the moral of many still-life pictures is, “time is fleeting”.) Mr. Luna’s Grade 9 rotation and 2D Foundation classes (Audain Studio) worked from examples of Renaissance, Baroque and Impressionist painting as a means of absorbing fundamentals of composition such as balance, line, value and contrast; at the same time, they were encouraged to add a contemporary perspective. For Grade 9s, this meant incorporating unexpected elements of pattern, texture or colour to tonal drawings. Grade 10-12 students took up the tradition of grisaille (black and white) oil studies, adding “found” words, logos or objects to the mix. In both cases, their goal was to relate fresh insight to history’s memory bank of images. The first show of the new school year is always educational for the educators, not least because it entails witnessing a sense of ownership develop, as a student moves from the search for competence to a statement of resolution: that this transformation often involves insecurity and doubt only makes the experience richer. Effort, inquiry, dialogue and collaboration emerge in every cohort, and, for instructors, part of the interest in the first harvesting of work is to present this back to students, faculty and parents as a cohesive accomplishment. It is never quite what one expects, and as such, allows onlookers to share in the uncertain, ultimately creative, enterprise that is the studio experience. Mr. John Luna

Where Students Choose To Be