For the Love of Art

Under the watchful eye of curator Randall Henry, a new art exhibit has opened on campus that includes works from professors in the Art Department. Titled “Recent Work: Southern University Visual Arts Faculty,” this year’s showcase focuses in on work from Hayden Hall’s own faculty and staff.  The exhibit opened on September 5 in Hayden Hall, which marks the beginning of the department’s first exhibit of the Fall semester, which will remain open until October 3.  The exhibit showcases all different types of art from a variety of artists with different styles. 
     One of the more noteworthy pieces of art came from John Alleyne, who presented his “Monotype” in this years faculty art show. The art work itself illustrates two smiling faces placed side by side as they floated on the vacuum of the page. Both faces are tilted to the side, not fully presenting themselves to the viewing audience. The head on the left presents the most depth, offering a multitude of colors on the head crown, with the color scheme moving swiftly to static as you look further to the back of her head. Sporting the same mischievous smile as the first, the head on the right had a complete head of hair made of the same multitude of colors on the crown. In opposition of the first head’s static-esque imagery, the back of this head is more humanoid and realistic.  “It’s ominous in a way. Their smiles are creepy looking when you add the colors on top of their design,” said junior math major Taylor Smith 
Another standout was curator Randall Henry’s “Royal March Into the City”, which featured more of an abstract design than most of the other pieces of art on display. Henry’s piece is a colorful environment of faces and humanoid figures that come together to make a densely populated image. The humanoids in the background are faceless, yet always in motion as they make up most of the background.  On a building made up of other humanoid shapes is the sole figure with defined facial features peeking from behind said building. With his face being made up of smaller shapes and colors, this figure is what truly makes the painting as a whole stand out.  “The art styles were varied and each had something different to show,” said sophomore history major Charles Barjon from California when asked what stood out to him. 
All of the present works of art served to give different artistic perspectives from a variety of different artists who work in Hayden’s own Art Department. “They never have an exhibit that I don’t like. If the people in charge keep doing it the way they’ve been doing it, I’m looking forward to the next exhibit.” said junior engineering major Devin Raby on what he expects from the Art Department’s next exhibit. Under the watchful eye of Henry, who also presented his own work, the hope is that this exhibit is the first of many great showcases presented in Hayden Hall this academic year. 

Gallery • 1 Photos

“Silkscreen”, a piece done by Southern University faculty member, John Alleyne, on display in the Southern University Art Gallery, located in Frank Hayden Hall. (Rocelyn Hamilton/DIGEST)