Never Retallack  | Entertainment Editor

Cannon Gallery — Western’s very own art exhibit within Campbell Hall, opened its biennial production of faculty art on Nov. 13. The exhibition will be open until Dec. 13 and holds works from the following: Jen Bracy, Clay Dunklin, Jodie Garrison, Mary Harden, Rebecca McCannell, Peter Hoffecker Mejia, Sung Eun Park, Gregory Poulin, Daniel Tankersley, Diane Tarter, Garima Thakur and Jen Vaughn. 

The only art faculty member not showcasing in the exhibition is Paula Booth, who happens to be the gallery conductor; she and her team of interns and students displayed all the faculty’s pieces into a fluid gallery.

There was a very eclectic collection of art that faculty had submitted; these pieces were whatever the professors were working on since the last biennial showcase. Each professor used a different medium; Poulin used oil on canvas, Thakur created a video, Tarter used collage on blackboard and it goes on and on, with each faculty member showing their different specialties.

The flow of the gallery was interesting. Walking in, viewers made two circles around the perimeter before going through the middle.  Booth and her team strategically placed Thakur’s modern video next to Poulin’s classic still-life oil paintings. The stark contrast between pieces was pleasant as a viewer — the way each transitioned to a different faculty’s art was never predictable.

I am no art expert, and some of the pieces left me contemplating what their true meaning was, such as Park’s mixed media work — simple, yet complex. Dunklin’s piece, “Play On,” was a video that reminded me of a more positive episode of “Black Mirror,” featuring trippy visuals and quirky messages on the screen. A couple pieces that did stand out to me in their message were Bracy’s mixed media on wood pieces called, “Packing Heat” and “En Mass(e),” which show horrifying statistics of gun violence within the United States. 

Talking to Professor Rebecca McCannell about her three pieces, “Illumination,” “Chaos” and “Vertigo,” I was surprised to learn about the complexity of her artwork. Her method was that of reductive screen printing, a tedious process that requires precision when attempting to add colors to a piece layer by layer. McCannell went as far as changing the craft of screen printing to better suit her project. 

“I developed this method where I paint a piece of clear plexiglass with red paint, and then any area I want light to shine through I have to scrape away with a palette knife or exacto blade,” explained McCannell. 

McCannell’s pieces were based on photographs that she took underneath the Eiffel Tower which is a unique perspective — less glamour of the overall appearance, but rather the inner workings. 

This gallery was interesting to walk through; whether an art connoisseur or not, this exhibition showcases stunning art by Western’s faculty, and definitely deserves recognition and praise. 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo by Mikayla Bruley