The newest school of cubist art

Artcubed, the first in what will be a yearlong series of undergraduate art exhibitions, is aptly named: it boasts three artists, three mediums, and, a group piece that involves a central cube. The show is the brainchild of history of art major Linda Rosenbury, DC '02, and photographer Jonas Maxwell, SM '02, who are seeking to eliminate the usual hassles of undergraduate art exhibitions. "Typically, when undergraduate art majors want to put together a show, it's a large and complex undertaking," Rosenbury explained. She hopes that her series—by providing a location for shows, hanging and arranging the artwork, and providing publicity and refreshments for the opening—will alleviate the usual frustrations.

KIRA GOLDMAN/YH American gothic, straight from the Heartland to Silliman College.

The site of the series is Maya's Room, located on the fourth floor of Byer's Hall in Silliman College. The room, bright and spacious, was named after a Silliman undergraduate and artist who died in an accident in 1982, and is dedicated to preserving Maya's memory through undergraduate art exhibits. Rosenbury and Maxwell found the space ideal, and decided to display the work of artists Felix Bennett, PC '01, Benjamin Crotty, PC '02, and Jane Yakowitz, SM '02, after going to the Luce studios and talking to both artists and teachers. "We figured out what the art scene looks like here [at Yale]," said Rosenbury. "Our goal is to show three artists whose art relates to one another and establish this space as a gallery." The resulting range of mediums—Bennett is a sculptor, Crotty a painter, and Yakowitz a photographer—reflects the diversity of undergraduate artists while still maintaining a sense of commonality. This unity is manifested concretely in the show's group piece, which features distinct elements of each of the three artists' work: a box, constructed by Bennett, is painted on two sides by Crotty and surrounded by Yakowitz's photographs. The group piece is open to viewers' reinterpretations, Rosenbury explained. "We're inviting people who come to play with it and rearrange it," she said.

In addition, each artist's work is displayed individually. Bennett has two sculptures in the show, the first a working fountain with a mirror on top. The second examines scale: a looming picture of a mountain, overshadowing a princess, serves as a backdrop for a model of the painting complete with a small princess doll. Yakowitz's 11" x 14" color photographs combine an underlying theme of robotics with human beings. Crotty's two paintings portray the interior of a 1993 Ford Taurus on large canvases; based on flash photography, they have less depth and seem flatter than paintings inspired directly by the object.

Art

Artcubed Maya's Room (in Byer's Hall, Silliman) Through Nov. 17

While the three artists in Artcubed are all upperclassmen, Rosenbury and Maxwell hope to ultimately give freshmen and non-art majors the opportunity to show their work. The culmination of the series is prospectively slated to be a juried show at the end of the year, in which history of art majors and professors will select which submissions to display in the final exhibition. In the meantime, the two coordinators are looking ahead to the next exhibition in January. The focus, again, will be on the relationship between different forms of art. "We're not looking for a set number of people," Rosenberg explained, "but rather for a group of artists to present as a whole."

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