Where do graphic and traditional arts, recycling and finger foods all come together?
If you’re scratching your head right now, you were obviously not at the MaMA Art Exhibit on Monday, Nov. 1. The MaMA exhibit, according to senior and USG representative Roman Bellapolsky, was put together by some of the same folks who brought you RockYoFaceCase, the music showcase which occurs every other Monday in the University Café.
The MaMA took place in the University Café and spilled into the adjacent Union Ballroom. The exhibit itself was a work of art, which began as soon as you walked into the café. When you walked into the ballroom, there were pieces arranged around the room, and then in the middle of the room was an intricate network of string, wrapped around posts in the center of the exhibit on which additional pieces were hung like insects caught in a web.
At 7 p.m. on Monday evening, the ballroom was buzzing with students. Clusters of students walked the circuit around the room drinking Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and munching on refreshments offered on a back table. Many were admiring pieces from the recycling themed piece made up of water bottles, as well as inspirational photo portraits of some Stony Brook athletes.
Other pieces included photos depicting more personal experiences, like a display put together by Arthur Kozlovski that featured several color photos of his trip to Florence, Italy. According to Kozlovski, he picked the four or five pictures in the series because, “they just flowed together.”
There was a multitude of media used, from woodcuts and ceramic sculpture to t-shirt design creations. There was also a good deal of digital media art, like “Seeking for Sweets,” which depicted many different snacks in all their multi-color packaged glory. It’s creator Yeongmin Won, a recent transfer to Stony Brook from South Korea, stated that her inspiration was from simply being astounded by the array of candies and junk food in vibrant multi-colored packaging that were in every location on campus.
“Coming from a totally different place [South Korea], it was just one of the first things I noticed,” she said. In the blurb next to the piece, she wrote, “It is kind of instinct as a student who wants to be a designer to be looking for visual entertainment, even in foods.”
The majority of people took their time perusing the exhibit in the ballroom, and then started to filter through the double doors in the University Café, where several paintings were displayed and a live band played onstage.
One notable painter featured in this room was the dark artist Chris Mancuso, whose paintings like “Exploding Skeleton” and “Damned Famewhore” certainly left an impression on all who walked through.
The entire exhibit, in fact, left an impression; Stony Brook students are creative and inventive, and it’s great that our campus organizations realize that and go out of their way to make sure those talents not only get recognition, but a forum to be shared with the rest of the student population.
